DYNAMIC DUO: Nassau County Deputy and her K9 make their first find

NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. — Deputy Elizabeth Smith and her K9, Rogue, made their first find early Wednesday morning for a man who was missing for over 50 hours.

Smith and Rogue were finishing training when they were called in to help with the search.

“I was just about to take her out of the truck and then I got a phone call and we had to turn right back around and come back. So for her to be training for basically a good majority of the afternoon and to come out here and to track somebody that has been missing for three days at that point, it was crazy,” Smith told WOKV.

All that Rogue had to go off on for a scent was a singular shoe.

“She literally stayed with human odor the whole entire time that we were trailing him. I could not have asked for a a better scenario for mine and her first find. It was just textbook,” Smith said.

They were able to track the man down and Rogue was able to comfort the man while they made sure he was okay.

“Once we got him out of where he was sitting at and to a gate that we could get him out of, I actually asked if it was okay for Rogue to walk up to him and like, you know, giving kisses or whatever,” Smith said. “And the biggest smile came on his face whenever Rogue touched him. So that that for me was the icing on the cake like that right there for my dog to be able to reach out and touch somebody and know that she was the reason that we found him alive. So very, very humbling, very amazing experience.”

Rogue is a year-old dog who was donated to the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office with her sister when they were a few weeks old. Smith herself is also new to the K9 Unit with Nassau County. She started last year and was the first female to join Nassau County’s K9 unit.

The two have been undergoing several training sessions, not only with the current K9 Unit, but with the FBI and with St. Johns County. Smith says that this find proves that she and Rogue belong with the team.

“It proves 110 percent that, you know, my hard work paid off and that I deserve to be on this team,” Smith said proudly.

The man who was missing is doing well and has been reunited with his family.

Cox Media Group