K-9 helps find missing 82-year-old Greenfield woman stuck on hillside

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- An Allegheny County Sheriff's Office K-9 is being praised for helping find a missing 82-year-old woman with dementia who had been stuck on a hillside. 

The sheriff's office said Deputy Jeff Belback and K-9 Ranger were called in to help Pittsburgh police find the woman who had gone missing in Greenfield on Wednesday night. 

With the help of the missing woman's daughter at her home on Alexis Street, the sheriff's office said Belback used the woman's pillowcase to help Ranger establish the scent. 

After searching several areas, the sheriff's office said Ranger followed a scent to a thick brush area at the end of the street. They made their way through the brush and as Belback called out the woman's name, searchers heard a faint reply and found the woman about 40 yards away on a hillside close to Greenfield Avenue. 

First responders were able to rescue her from the hill, where the sheriff's office said she had been stuck for about 5 hours. 

The sheriff's office praised Belback and his K-9 partner, saying Ranger's tracking skills were "crucial" to making sure the search had a happy ending.