New K-9 addition to Wake County Sheriff’s Office has a nose for finding missing people

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — When a man disappeared from his northern Wake County home, the sheriff’s office stepped in to help.

 The leader of the search team was a black lab named Rosie. 

Rosie has a nose for finding all kinds of things, from weapons to drugs, but perhaps, most importantly, she can track down missing people — like she did over the weekend when the Wake County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a worried family.

“They were concerned they were definitely concerned,” recalled Deputy Ferrel Reynolds, Rosie’s handler.  “A grown gentleman who had some cognitive impairments had run away from the house,” he continued. “Weather was about 29 degrees that night.”  

The call came as part of the Wake County Sheriff’s Office’s Check On Welfare service.

“They can call our non-emergency number and we’ll send a deputy right away,” explained Eric Curry, a spokesman with the sheriff’s office.

In the middle of the night, with freezing temperatures and lots of woods near Briarwood Place and Raven Ridge Road, deputies brought in Rosie.

Within about 20 minutes, Reynolds says Rosie led him to the missing man in a six-foot ravine in a wooded area.

“I was relieved it was a great thing that she obviously did. It was a team effort on everybody’s part,” said Reynolds.

For the team of Reynolds and Rosie, it was an especially big moment.  They only finished training together in December.  

“One of her first finds, so I am ecstatic,” said Reynolds. He added that the man’s family was also relieved, saying, “Oh they were definitely happy that we found him and we brought him back to them.” 

As for Rosie, her reward is simple – praise, a toy, and a chance to do it all again, when someone else needs help.