A three-year-old child who was reported missing on Friday morning has been safely returned to his family after being found by a DeLand Police Department K-9.
At around 11:30 a.m. on Friday, March 29, DeLand police received a report of a lost toddler. Officers immediately responded to the area to conduct a massive search, focusing on a wooded area behind the child’s home, according to DPD.
The police department stated that all available assets and resources were deployed to locate the missing toddler, including Corporal Damon Clark and his K-9 partner, Midnight.
After sniffing a blanket belonging to the toddler, K-9 Midnight and his handler, Corporal Clark, headed into the nearby woods. K-9 Midnight picked up the child’s scent while on a trail, and it led him to the missing toddler.
The child was unharmed and reunited with his family. Officers gifted him with a DPD teddy bear, which had been recently donated to the police department.
“Good work to all teams involved!” stated DPD in a social media post. “This is the outcome we hope for in these situations, a safe return!”
K-9 Midnight is trained to search for narcotics and missing people and has been with the DeLand Police Department since 2022.