A Dog’s Devotion: True Adventures of a K9 Search and Rescue Team

This is an inside view of a remarkable K9 search and rescue team operating in the wilds of Washington State whose ＂principal investigator＂ is a yellow lab named Keb. Keb’s story is of a dedicated K9 who can distinguish the scent of the dead from the scent of the living, and who can detect buried bones and even corpses underwater. Readers will follow this intrepid K9 and her teammates as they face the challenges of changeable weather, deep northwest forests, high mountain slopes, and menacing coyotes to find dead bodies, missing hikers, and even the bones of murder victims from long ago. Among their successes: finding multiple victims buried by the 2014 Oso Landslide, solving the mysterious disappearance of women in wealthy suburbs, and finding human bones thought to be forever lost to time. It’s their story about evolving as search and rescue volunteers while overcoming harsh conditions, inner demons, and a rust-bound bureaucracy. This is a unique, first-hand visit into the little-known world of dedicated SAR volunteers who find their purpose while searching for the lost and the dead. It will also appeal to anyone fascinated by how rescue K9s are raised, trained, and deployed in service to law enforcement under difficult conditions.

Suzanne Elshult has been active in Search and Rescue (SAR) since 2001. She is the President of Cascadia Search Dogs, has held leadership positions with Snohomish County Search and Rescue and Everett Mountain Rescue. She received Washington State Recognition for contributions to the SAR community. Elshult and K9 Keb have searched for missing persons on hundreds of missions in wilderness, disaster, and urban environments. Elshult and Keb are still actively deploying in the mountains and communities of the Pacific Northwest. James Guy Mansfield, PhD, has been active in Search and Rescue since 2008. With Everett Mountain Rescue, he has deployed on wilderness, disaster, technical rope-rescue missions, and searches for abducted children. Mansfield has managed some of the largest searches in Washington State, and assisted law enforcement on major homicide cases. He has been recognized by the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Department and the Governor of Washington State for his role on high-profile SAR missions. He is a director of the Washington State Search and Rescue Planning Unit.