Gary Police Corporal, K9 Partner Find Girl With Special Needs Who Left Home In Cold
GARY, Ind. (CBS) -- A Gary police corporal and his K9 partner received accolades Saturday, as they stepped up together to find a teenage girl with special needs.
At 4:42 a.m. Saturday, police were called to the 4800 block of Carolina Street in Gary after learning the girl had wandered away from her home in the cold.
Officers learned the girl had multiple disabilities – including autism – and was not capable of fending for herself or understanding the level of danger involved with the cold, police said.
When the responding officers could not find the girl, they called in Gary police Cpl. Brown – who was off-duty at the time – along with his K9 partner, Koba.
Cpl. Brown obtained a scent sample of the girl and presented it to Koba, police said. The K9 team then went searching for the girl, and found her in the 600 block of East 48th Avenue.
The teen had no shoes, socks, or coat on when she was found, police said. Paramedics came to evaluate her, and she was taken to an area hospital for treatment, police said.
"If not for the actions of Corporal Brown, K9 Koba and other Gary officers on scene the outcome would have been tragically different," Gary police said in a news release.