This search differed from our standard methods. Luz said her little dog Camilo was right outside her door one moment and gone in less than two minutes. She heard Camilo scream, not yip or bark or whimper. Luz suspected a predator, most likely a coyote, but she wanted a search dog to try anyway. I explained how Kelsy works, and that since the point last seen was right outside her door, where Camilo had made hundreds of scent trails, it would be unlikely that Kelsy could follow Camilo's scent trail. Also, since he was probably carried, not walking, there might not be a scent trail to follow. She said she wanted us to try, just in case Camilo was not taken by a predator.
Kelsy and I started our search at 7 PM on a relatively warm, dry day. We started at a point where the scuff marks in the dirt indicated a possible struggle. Kelsy analyzed the ground there, and at a similar scuff mark eight feet away. Then she led me into the neighbor's yard, and pointed out a spot of great interest to her. I marked this spot, and tried to continue the search. Kelsy lost the trail, so I took her back to the beginning and restarted her. This time she followed a looping trail all through the yard, I assume not from the day of the disappearance.
Luz showed us a spot in the woods, about a quarter mile away, where her other dog behaved oddly, shaking and refusing to move forward. I started Kelsy on the scent article there, and she didn't seem to pick up a scent trail. However, she did find coyote scat that was full of fur that looked like it could belong to Camilo. We took some samples for comparison at a lab.
After dark, we sprayed luminol at the four locations of interest to Kelsy--the two scuff marks in the yard, the spot on the neighbor's lawn, and the coyote scat in the woods. Of course, the coyote scat glowed blue, as you would expect traces of blood there. At the three other spots, we saw just a few specks of blue. It is possible these were false positives, but they resembled drops of blood. Given the possible presence of blood, the coyote scat with possible matching fur, and the circumstances of the dissappearance, I advised Luz that the most likely scenario was that Camilo had been taken by a coyote. However, I advised her to keep looking until she got positive confirmation that the fur belonged to Camilo. At this point I haven't heard the result of the test.
Kelsy was unable to perform her usual search, because of the circumstances and conditions, but she did point out areas of interest I would never have found without her help. She proved useful, but in a different manner than we have trained for.
Temp: 53F
Feels like: 53F
Fair
Humidity: 55%
Wind: NNW at 5 mph
Updated: 5/19/11 10:25 PM PDT
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