A dog began barking when he realized his owner, an 80-year-old woman with dementia, was in trouble as the pair walked on a Utah mountainside.
The incident happened in June, and the sheriff’s office in Emery County took action after learning the woman was missing and had not been seen for more than a day, NBC News reported Friday.
One of the agency’s officers and his police dog, Kip, began searching the area as the sun went down. The outlet noted temperatures had been in the 50s Fahrenheit at night and nearly reached the 100s Fahrenheit during the daytime. It was imperative that crews locate the woman as quickly as possible.
An image shows the officer and Kip:
🐶TO THE RESCUE: A barking dog helps authorities find its' owner with dementia who was missing for days.
— KWTX News 10 (@kwtx) July 22, 2024
MORE: https://t.co/dlpmrIJsU4 pic.twitter.com/dcuFgPe3Bg
Around 3:30 a.m., the officer and Kip were looking around some cabins and heard a dog barking. They immediately moved toward the sound but were unable to find the woman.
The following day, a neighbor told the officer he had also heard the barking the previous day, and it sounded as if it was coming from a more remote area.
Video footage from local security cameras had recorded the woman and her dog walking west. The neighbor, the officer, and Kip moved that way and, once again, heard the barking. It was not long before they came upon the woman.
According to KENS, the search and rescue took place about two hours south of Salt Lake City. The woman had taken a walk with her chocolate Labrador while her husband stayed home to prepare dinner. She suffered scrapes and bruises and was severely dehydrated.
However, her beloved dog never left her side while she was missing for two days and three nights.
Following her rescue, she was taken to a hospital to be evaluated, per the NBC report.
A similar instance happened in May 2022 when a police K-9 rescued a woman with dementia in Hillsborough County, Florida, according to Inside Edition.
Video footage shows the moment the dog found the woman, who had wandered about 250 feet away from her house and was grateful they were there to save her:
