Miramar police welcome new bloodhound from Jimmy Ryce Center
MIAMI - The Miramar police department has a new four-legged officer on the force.
"We are honored and proud to welcome Hope Ryce to Miramar," said Police Chief Delrish Moss.
Hope is a forty-pound bloodhound that was donated to the department by the Jimmy Ryce Center for Victims of Predatory Abduction.
Bloodhounds have a remarkable innate ability to follow scent and Hope will be used to locate missing children and adults and bring them home safely. Hope, a four-month-old puppy, was bred specifically for tracking.
Hope has been teamed with K-9 Officer Heidy Arias, a seven-year veteran of the force.
According to Miramar police, after obtaining her degree in education, Arias taught students with autism. Six years later, she joined the Miramar Police Department and spent several years as a school resource officer. Arias also serves as one of the department's defense tactics instructors.
"This puppy is going to be a warrior and make us all very proud. Like her name, she will provide hope to families searching for their loved ones," Arias said.
"We know that Hope and Officer Arias are going to be a remarkable team," said Terri Lynn, co-managing director of the Jimmy Ryce Center.
On September 11, 1995, Jimmy Ryce, 9, was abducted, raped, and murdered at the hands of a sexual predator in the Redland.
His legacy lives on thanks to the partnership between the Jimmy Ryce Center and law enforcement. The nonprofit organization has provided hundreds of bloodhounds for police departments around the country to help find abducted and lost children.
Jimmy's parents always believed bloodhounds, which were not available in the search for Jimmy, might have found their son before he was killed.