BRUNSWICK COUNTY, N.C. — A sheriff’s K9 team used scent-discrimination training to help deputies quickly locate an endangered patient who had run from a local hospital, according to a fresh North Carolina report.
WECT reported Monday that the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office recognized Sgt. John Smith and K9 Tango for their work Saturday, Aug. 8.
Tango followed the trail from the patient’s last known location
The patient ran from hospital security, WECT reported. Smith deployed Tango from the area where the person was last seen, and the K9 picked up the scent.
Tango tracked into woods and then across a nearby field. The dog’s behavior indicated that the missing person was close, helping search teams focus their resources.
Deputies positioned along the perimeter found the patient directly ahead of the K9 team’s path, according to the report.
Training put search resources in the right place
Paul Coley, CEO of Scent Evidence K9, said Smith and Tango’s scent-discrimination training helped place search resources where they could quickly locate the patient.
The sheriff’s office did not publicly identify the patient in WECT’s report, and ThinBlueNews is preserving that privacy. No diagnosis, treatment information or reason for leaving the hospital is being added.
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Source and visual disclosure
Visual note: ThinBlueNews did not reuse source imagery because no reusable license was established. The featured image is an original editorial card, not an incident photograph or a depiction of the patient, Sgt. Smith or K9 Tango.
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