DELAND, Fla. – A DeLand Police Department K-9 is being praised after finding a missing 3-year-old boy safe in the woods near his home.
The department said the boy was reported missing Friday morning and a K-9 named Midnight searched the woods behind the boy’s home, picking up his scent and leading his handler, Corporal Damon Clark, to the toddler.
Clark told News 6 they got the call and jumped into action. He said the boy’s mother gave them a blanket so Midnight could pick up the boy’s scent and they set out to find him. The police said the boy quickly snuck off from his family and into the woods.
“They always say that the dog feels what you feel, so I always try to go into this confident and enthusiastic and positive,” he said.
The team moved quickly in the swampy woods.
“He was dragging me through the woods. He wasn’t going to stop,” said Clark.
After about 45 minutes, Midnight found the missing child.
“Once he found the little boy he just started licking him,” Clark said. “He was in this little thicket. It was very thick. The dog was actually able to get to him much quicker than I was because I’m getting caught up on vines.”
Investigators said the child was not hurt and they quickly reunited him with his family.
“I was very relieved and as a parent I know how I would feel if that was my kid,” Clark said.
This was Clark and Midnight’s fifth missing person they have found as a team.
The three-year-old black lab is full of energy and on top of missing people, Midnight helps sniff out and track narcotics.
Corporal Clark said what really keeps him motivated is a shiny green tennis ball.
The K-9 and Corporal Clark are a team that never leaves each other’s side and strives to bring others back together.
“My job is just to read him, read his body language and understand what he’s telling me because obviously he can’t talk. I have to read his actions, read his motions, read his movements and stuff like that so we’re a good team,” Clark said.
Midnight has been with the department since 2022.
Good job, Midnight!
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