Conyers Police K9 “Officer Eddie” showed a dog’s nose and ears are still superior to body-heat sensors, night-vision goggles and pack of two-legged searchers.
The canine is credited with helping to rescue an elderly woman, said Officer Kim Lucas Wednesday.
The 83-year-old woman, an accident victim, had wandered off Tuesday from a Rockdale Healthcare on Renaissance Drive. Sheriff’s deputies and police began searching the area shortly after midnight and fears mounted that the woman, who was not identified, might succumb to hypothermia.
“He ran right to her,” Lucas told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We had all kinds of bodies out there and technology out there but it came down to K9 Eddie.”
Eddie, who works with Officer Myra Scruggs, arrived 2 a.m. and soon located the woman in area that had already been searched, Lucas said. The 3-year-old Belgian Malinois began tracking from the hospital and then stopped abruptly and turned his head to listen before dragging Scruggs to the wood line, Lucas said
“She was on the move, walking and crawling,” Lucas said of the missing woman. “Officer Scruggs then heard a quiet moaning. Eddie was released and ran straight to woman and began to bark. She was on the ground, soaking wet, unable to get up and was very confused.”
Eddie joined the Conyers Police Department a year ago this month. His official job description is narcotic detection and tracking, and he’s used for locating lost children, Alzheimer’s patients and anyone at risk, Lucas said.
“Thank goodness for K9 hearing because I would not have ever heard her,” Scruggs said. “The coolest thing about Eddie is once I put his tracking harness on, he knows what we are about to do. No commands need to be given.”
