Newly trained K-9 Unit finds missing elderly woman alive

The police’s K-9 Unit is being credited for finding alive, 68-year-old Frances Ann “Annie” Jules whose relatives reported to police late Friday that she had left home around 11 am that day and had not returned.
As residents heaped praise on the officers yesterday, one K-9 unit official who participated in the search and rescue operation, told OBSERVER media that the specially trained dogs were able to quickly track down the elderly woman who was found dehydrated and was admitted to hospital for observation.
“We got an indication from somebody who saw her in the area some time Friday and once we got an idea of where she was, we got some clothing from the family members to use to create an odour picture. Then we went in the area and we are grateful for the K-9 because they helped us and led us to finding her,” the K-9 Unit official said.
That official said the efficiency of the dogs is best when the report is made early and there is some information about the general area where the person was last seen. He also said it is further dependent on weather conditions and how busy the area usually is.
Jules was found in the Sea View Farm area around 10:15 am yesterday, some four hours after that particular search team resumed the operation. Other search teams were also out at various locations across the island.
The day prior, police, residents and relatives were also searching for the elderly woman and relatives called into OBSERVER Radio’s Snakepit to bring more awareness to their situation and to garner more support for the search.
Several people who were part of the search praised the police’s K-9 group, indicating that the officers pledged they would not have stopped until the woman was found.
Photographs on social media show one officer carrying the frail woman on his back. OBSERVER media later learned this image was taken as the officers were trekking through the bushes moments after they had found the woman under a tree. They had to carry her out to meet the ambulance, which transported her to the hospital for treatment.
The police’s Strategic Communications (STRATCOM) department issued a statement indicating that apart from being dehydrated, the woman “appeared to be in good health.”
In that statement, the lawmen also “expressed profound gratitude to the officers within the K-9 Unit, and to the various groups who joined with the police and the family in search of Annie. The general public is also advised to report missing family members to the police without delay, in order for the police to commence immediate search for these people.”