PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officer and his four-legged partner are being credited with finding a missing hunter in a remote part of Palm Beach County.
It happened the morning of Aug. 9, in the Holey Land Wildlife Management Area. Officer Kevin Tarr and his K-9 partner, Rambo, got the call about a 65-year-old hunter who had gotten lost. Officials say the man is diabetic, which made the search even more urgent.
WATCH: FWC officer says several factors worked in their favor during search
Tarr and Rambo first found the man’s van. From there, Rambo picked up the hunter’s scent. Within an hour, they had him located.
“He’s a love bug, as my wife likes to say. He hasn’t always been well-behaved—that’s where the training comes in,” Tarr said. “We put a lot of time in training together.”
Rambo is trained to find missing people and also detect items like knives, guns and shell casings. Tarr says he’s one of the best dogs in the agency when it comes to detection work — whether on vehicles, vessels, coolers or campsites.
To demonstrate, Tarr hid a .223 shell casing in the grass at a Delray Beach park. It took Rambo less than a minute to find it.
Tarr said he and Rambo have been partners for four years and have been part of searches that didn’t end as well as this one. This time, he says several things worked in their favor — finding the hunter’s truck, getting a scent from the door handle, and pinging the man’s cellphone.
His advice for anyone who realizes they’re lost: stay put.
“If you have cellphone battery, try to maintain that cellphone. Stay off of social media, all that stuff, make the phone call, and then we can use your phone location to help us better find you,” Tarr said.
And if you do get lost, hope Rambo is part of the search.
