K-9 Unit Helps Find 2 Missing, 1 Run Away Saturday
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Two people who became lost in the area of the Chautauqua Gorge watershed in the town of Westfield were found with the help of a K-9 Unit. It was the first of two successful tracks Saturday for one of the newest dogs added to the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office.
The first incident began around 6:15 p.m. after the ATV a man was riding on became disabled while on the trail system. While attempting to find his way out on foot, the man became lost and called his parents for help, the Sheriff’s Office said late Saturday in a press release.
The man’s father arrived shortly thereafter, but became lost himself in a heavily wooded area.
Deputy Dana Kapuscinski and K-9 Bentley were called to help track down the lost father and son. After searching for about a mile from the trial head, the K-9 and deputy were able to locate the pair, the Sheriff’s Office said. Neither were harmed or required medical attention.
“Tracking is our bread and butter,” Kapuscinski told The Post-Journal. “We put in hundreds and hundreds of hours of training. We do other things such as explosives detection, but tracking people who go missing or need help is what this training is really about.”
Kapuscinski said this was K-9 Bentley’s second successful human tracking with the Sheriff’s Office this year; the dog tracked a woman who fled from a car in the town of Ellicott and hid during a snowstorm about a month ago. Through the snow K-9 Bentley was able to track down the woman, who was found to be illegally possessing a gun.
However, the deputy and German shepherd weren’t done Saturday. The Sheriff’s Office said a 13-year-old girl was reported missing shortly after 11 p.m. after running away toward the Chautauqua Gorge on Hannum Road in Mayville.
Kapuscinski and K-9 Bentley arrived at a campsite in the gorge and reportedly found evidence that the missing teenager had been in the area. Bentley was deployed on a “human odor track” from the campsite.
The dog was able to find the 13-year-old barefoot in the surrounding wooded area, the Sheriff’s Office reported. She did not require medical care and was returned to her family.
“The dog did all the work on that one,” Kapuscinski said of K-9 Bentley finding the missing teenager. “It feels pretty good with all the hard work and training that goes in to see it pay off like this in one day.”
Kapuscinski said as a reward K-9 Bentley will be brought to an open field and allowed to track down another deputy dressed in other clothes. Once completing the catch, the K-9 will be given a treat or a toy as a reward.
“We want to keep him interested, keep him hungry,” Kapuscinski said.
K-9 Bentley is named after former Sheriff John R. Bentley, who died in 1994. Bentley was a part-time officer in Ellicott before working in Jamestown and eventually with the Sheriff’s Office beginning in 1956. He was elected sheriff in 1972.
The German shepherd is one of two purchased recently using funds from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and through forfeiture and added to the K-9 Unit of the Sheriff’s Office. K-9 Drake -- named after Lt. Thomas Drake, who died in September 2003 -- is handled by Deputy Jason Beichner.