LAPD bloodhound K-9 treks through forest to find missing hiker
It was Coco's first time in the area, but her sharp senses helped save the day.
The LAPD has its very own bloodhound, a K-9 named Coco. Recently, Coco helped locate a missing hiker in the Angeles National Forest. It was Coco's first time in the area but she put her sharp skills to good use.
"She just wants to go, go, go. There's no time where I'm standing in a room and she wants to lay down," said LAPD Officer Bardo Zavala about Coco.
And that drive is exactly what officers look for in a bloodhound. So when a call came in on Jan. 7 about a person in crisis last seen in the Angeles National Forest, Coco got straight to work.
"I deployed Coco, using one of the subject's clothing. Coco picked up a trail going, taking us into deep into the canyon," said Zavala, a K-9 handler for LAPD's Gang and Narcotics Division.
Zavala says it was Coco's first time in that area. She crossed creeks, pushed through thick brush and over fallen trees - at one point even needing to be lifted over an 8-foot wall to stay on the trail.
"Picking her up and putting over a wall that was something that we've never done," said Zavala. "She actually went through four to five creeks and she enjoyed going to the creek. She took a sip every time she would pass one and continued on the trail, which was amazing, amazing to see."
Coco is 2 years old, but she's been training for this job since she was just 8 weeks old, but this was new territory for her. Most of her deployments have happened within urban areas in the city.
"This is what we train for and we don't often get the opportunity to do these types of rescue missions," said Sgt. Desi Ehrlich of LAPD's Gang and Narcotics Division. "And when we do, people are just wandering off into the woods and sometimes they pop on on the other side and they end up getting into a car and they're gone."
That wasn't the case here, but thankfully Coco was there to lead officers to the missing person. After a nearly nine-hour search, the person was found and was air lifted to safety along with the rescue team.
"Coco did a great job that day and it got us as far as any dog could," said Ehrlich. "And it really feels good to be able to contribute to saving someone's life."
