Originally published 2019-10-20.
Thanks to some Florida deputies, a three-year-old boy with autism is safe and back with his family.
Aedric’s grandmom was watching the young boy, but while she was in the bathroom, he unlocked the deadbolt on the door and walked out of their house.
As deputies reported, the boy wandered into the woods behind a neighbor’s house in Pace, a Pensacola suburb in the Florida Panhandle, and got lost.
At that point, the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office began looking for the boy.
Deputies Robert Lenzo and Josh Chandler, along with K-9s Copper and Zinc, searched the area; after two unsuccessful hours, deputies released their bloodhounds.
In less than thirty minutes, Copper found the boy approximately 200 yards away.
Sheriff Bob Johnson said 28 minutes after the dog hit the trail, they found the boy, surrounded by mud and briars.
Deputies used a machete to reach little Aedric, but except for some scratches and bug bites, he was ok.
The sheriff’s office began using bloodhounds last year, and since then, the dogs have found nine people, including senior citizens, kids, and fleeing suspects.
At a news conference, the mother, Audra Hughes, said the most frightening words a mom can get on the phone are ‘your kid is missing, get home right now.’
Nevertheless, a couple of hours later, she received the best news in her entire life: ‘We found your kid.’”
The boy’s mother also thanked the many people of her neighborhood that were out trying to help in the search.
District One Commissioner Sam Parker congratulated the hardworking team on a job well done.
(The Facebook post originally embedded here is no longer available.)
The search involved people as well as a dog
Copper's reported success is the memorable moment, but the account also includes deputies organizing a search and reaching the child through difficult ground. A dog's work takes place within that coordinated response. The 28-minute figure refers to the reported time after the bloodhound began following the trail, not the total time the child was missing.
A successful case is not a guaranteed timetable
Distance, terrain, available information, and circumstances differ between searches. This story cannot establish how quickly another child would be located. Its clearest lesson is the value of a prompt, organized response and trained personnel, without treating the child's autism as a complete explanation of the event or assigning blame from a brief news account.
Copper and Zinc
The search took place on Sunday 15 September 2019, and the deputies needed machetes to reach Aedric in a muddy, briar-choked stretch of woods. At a news conference the next day, Sheriff Bob Johnson said: “A year ago we got some bloodhounds, and yesterday they paid off with dividends.” He added: “All they do is track people and they are really, really good at it.” On 9 October 2019 Florida’s attorney general, Ashley Moody, presented Back the Blue Awards to both bloodhounds at the sheriff’s office headquarters. Copper, a female, and Zinc, a male, were both a year and a half old; Deputy Josh Chandler trains and handles Copper, and Deputy Robert Lenzo handles Zinc. The office’s Bloodhound Tracking Unit had placed second in the Southern States Man Hunt Field Trial Tracking Competition.
Sources: WTVR (AP), 17 September 2019: Florida bloodhounds find missing 3-year-old with autism in under 30 minutes Florida Attorney General, 9 October 2019: Back the Blue alert: AG Moody recognizes K9s for rescuing 3-year-old
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