An elderly woman with dementia went missing last week in the US’ Florida and she was reunited with her family with a little help from a police dog. The clip showing the K-9 locating the woman in the bushes and leading the police officers has surfaced online. The woman, who went for a walk from her home Saturday afternoon, was found close to her house a day after.
The clip shared by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office on YouTube shows the canine moving toward the wilderness and the police officer who holds the leash follows it. The woman is seen lying in the bushes and the police officer asks her if she is okay. He also informs his team members that the woman has been found. Another police officer helps her to sit and gives her water. Meanwhile, the other police officer pats the dog and cheers it. Then, the police officers lift the woman and take her to a helicopter. The helicopter takes off after a while from the woods.
Watch the video here:
After airlifting her, she was given primary treatment in a nearby Heritage Elementary School. Later, she was transferred to a local hospital due to severe dehydration.
Netizens praised the dog for locating the woman. “Dogs…..what precious and loyal animals, we can’t live without them,” commented an Instagram user.
“On Sunday, May 15, 2022, shortly after 11:00 a.m., deputies were called to a home on the 11000 block of Bonnet Hole Drive in reference to a missing and endangered person. They learned that a woman in her late 60s who suffers from dementia had walked away from her home in the afternoon on May 14, 2022, and had not been seen since,” read the YouTube description.
“While combing a wooded area across from the home, HCSO K-9 Toby, who is a bloodhound, and his handler, Deputy Craig Lariz, located the missing woman approximately 250 feet south of her home,” added the description.
“There is nothing worse than the terror someone feels when their loved one goes missing. With the hot temperatures outside and the remote area where this woman had fallen, a very frightening outcome was avoided thanks to the diligent work of our deputies,” said Sheriff Chad Chronister in the YouTube description section.
