CHICAGO (NewsNation) — It was a hot and humid Florida day — temperature nearing 90 — when Toby and his handler deputy Craig Lariz got the call and sprang into action.
Their mission: to find a 67-year-old missing woman who, suffering from dementia, had vanished after walking away from her home near Tampa 18 hours earlier.
After searching a dense, grassy area behind her home, with her family preparing for the worst, K-9 Toby and deputy Lariz located the woman about 250 feet from her residence.
Body cam video shows her lying in the grass, barely responsive, unable to move.
“Her grandson was watching her and I think believed that she was inside the residence and she … got out and he didn’t call us until the next day,” said Sheriff Chad Chronister of the Hillsborough County police department.
“When we get there, she was bitten by several of the bugs and she suffered a lot of laceration from walking through the briars. Aviation couldn’t even see the other deputies, (let alone) her laying down there,” he continued.
Though a joint effort, the real hero in this rescue was the bloodhound K-9.
“If It wouldn’t have been for K-9 Toby, this call certainly had every element for a tragic ending. And it was only because of him that it ended as well as it did,” the sheriff said.
Deputies carried the woman to a helicopter and she was later transported to a local hospital and treated for severe dehydration.
“It was only because of K-9 Toby that she’s alive today and recovering in a hospital and we’re not talking about a death of a loved one,” the sheriff said.