DeLand police dog tracks down missing 3-year-old in middle of woods

By Pamela Comme

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    DELAND, Florida (WESH) — Midnight, a DeLand Police K-9 dog, is being hailed a hero after finding a missing 3-year-old boy who police say wandered off.

“He was dragging me through the woods, like he was just he wasn’t gonna stop,” said DeLand Police Corporal Damon Clark.

Clark is Midnight’s handler. When he’s not working, Midnight is sweet, energetic, and loves to play ball. However, when he’s on the job, he gets things done.

Clark said all he had to do was give him a sniff of the 3-year-old’s blanket and then send him off.

“I would say we were on the ground probably 45 minutes or so, um, which feels like hours and hours and hours when you’re being dragged behind the dog through the woods,” he added.

Clark said he was full of cuts and scrapes, but despite the challenging terrain, Midnight was successful.

“…it was very thick,” he said. “The dog was able to get to him much quicker than I was because I’m getting caught up in vines, and trees, and shrubbery and stuff like that.”

The three-year-old would often play in the woods, which is why Clark said he likely wandered off and got lost.

Thankfully, the boy had his tablet, and he stayed in one spot, making it easier to track him down. When Midnight found him, he was very excited.

“By the time I got back there, he’s licking the little boy’s face, and he’s all over the little boy,” said Clark. “And he’s looking back at me like, ‘Hey, I got it. Here it is.'”

Of course, Midnight was rewarded with a burger and one of his favorite toys, but none of this would have happened without the help of Clark.

“I’m the dumb end of the leash,” he said. “So he does all the work. My job is just to read him, read his body language… and understand what he’s telling me because he can’t talk. “

Clark helped Midnight retrace his steps whenever he lost track of the boy’s sent. At one point, the dog also had to get another sniff of the blanket to make sure he was on the right track. The two work together well. Clark knows to be successful; he has to pay attention to the dog’s needs.

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