Body cam video shows K-9 rescue of missing woman in remote area
By: -----
Vernal, UT - On Jan. 31, officials with the Utah Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division received a call reporting a woman who had gone missing in remote terrain outside of Vernal.
Officer Kory Lilga and his K-9 Hawk responded to the call and quickly arrived at the area where they believed she had left her vehicle, which was located near the McCoy Flats to the west of Highway 40.
"It appeared she just left the vehicle, unknown circumstances. Probably some sort of situation that you know sometimes everybody goes through, maybe a rough moment at that time," said Officer Josh Carver, who is the lead K-9 officer in DNR's Division of Law Enforcement.
The K-9, Hawk, quickly got the woman's scent in the area and took off on the track. Lilga said he put Hawk where they thought she was last seen, and he picked up the scent.
"They're scent-discriminatory dogs, they will pick up that odor and stay on that track the entire time," Carver said.
Hawk and his handler went up the desert hills, through a fence, and down into a gulley—hundreds of yards from the car. Carver said he was on about a ten-minute track when they found the woman lying on the ground.
Carver said the woman was not initially responsive to them, and it appeared that she didn't want to be found. However, she eventually accepted the aid offered to her.