Woodbury, CT. (May 2, 2016): On May 1, 2016 State Police K9 Texas, a bloodhound, located a missing 89 year old Woodbury woman, suffering from Alzheimer’s, three and a half hours after she was discovered missing.
On May 1, 2016 at approx. 5:40 p.m. Troop L-Litchfield and the Woodbury Resident Trooper's Office were notified of a missing 89 year old woman last seen on Good Hill Road in Woodbury. The 89 year old woman was last seen at approximately 5:00 p.m. at her Woodbury residence.
Upon arrival troopers, and officers from the Woodbury Resident Trooper’s Office searched the residence and immediate area, but were unable to locate her. A State Police K9 team (German shepherd) also responded and assisted with the search.
The state police helicopter, Trooper One, was requested, but was unable to fly due to the inclement weather. Members of the Woodbury Volunteer Fire Department also responded to the scene and assisted in the search. Fire department members planned to deploy a boat to check a pond located in the immediate area. Woodbury residents were notified of the missing woman via the towns reverse 911 system.
On May 1, 2016 at approximately 7:50 p.m. a state police bloodhound responded to the scene to further assist with the search. TFC Kerry Halligan and her K9 partner Texas, a nearly 2 year old Bloodhound, initiated a search for the 89 year old woman.
After approximately 40 minutes of searching, K9 Texas located the missing woman approximately ¼ mile from her residence, in thick brush. The missing woman was disoriented and appeared to be suffering from hypothermia. The missing woman was transported to Saint Mary’s Hospital for evaluation by the Woodbury Volunteer Ambulance.
State Police canine teams are frequently called upon by police agencies to search for missing persons. The State Police Canine Unit is an extremely busy unit training K9’s from all the state and world, and working throughout the entire state assisting with a variety of investigations.
State Police Bloodhounds are used to pick up where patrol dogs leave off. They can follow older tracks with a higher percentage of success and are able to start a trail in a contaminated area due to their superior olfactory system and inherent tracking ability.
Labrador retrievers are another breed used by State Police as narcotic detection dogs, and are trained to discern odors such as illegal drugs. The breed is also trained in accelerant detection to identify the presence of all types of flammable and combustible substances. These canines are assigned to Troopers in the Statewide Narcotics Task Force, the Office of the State Fire Marshal and Bradley International Airport.
Labradors are trained as explosive detection dogs as well. The imprintation of odors takes four intense weeks of training exclusively by trainers prior to their partners joining the training for another eight weeks.
Over the past couple of years, Labradors have also been trained in Electronic Storage Detection helping investigators locate items associated with computers and cell phones.
During the past 82 years, State Police-trained dogs have located many missing adults and children. State Police K-9 Dogs have also sniffed out thousands of pounds of narcotics and detected explosives in various locations.
The State Police relies on this essential unit to serve the people of Connecticut. Canine teams are viable partners in Law Enforcement.