Hancock County deputy reunited with lost K-9

Radar was lost in a car accident.

"Lost" is the optimum word because what is lost can be — and in this case, was — found.

Darryl Russell, a Hancock County sheriff's deputy, was separated from his now 15-month-old bloodhound on Sept. 23 when he was broadsided while responding to a call in Pearl River County. Radar's kennel was thrown from the back of the truck, and it broke open upon hitting the ground.

Russell had multiple wounds to his face and head and doesn't remember a lot, but he does clearly remember one thing.

"My first thought was, 'Where's my dog?'" he told The Clarion-Ledger.

That was the thought he woke up to every day for the next 17 days until the K-9 and his deputy handler were reunited.

Russell said the dog was already a part of his family and fit in well with his wife, two children and 4-month-old lab.

"I've had him since he was 6 weeks old, and ever since that day, he's stayed at the house," he said.

That made the mission to find him even more important.

Bloodhounds from the Mississippi Blood Tracking Network came from all over the state. Some of them were Radar's brothers and sisters, Russell said. Searchers set up hog traps and left Radar's igloo dog house out for him. Russell even got them to leave some of his clothing so his familiar scent would be around and Radar would feel more comfortable.

As a tracking dog, Radar had been trained to look for certain scents and track them, and he knew the scents of home. So to be involved in a traumatic event in a place he didn't know, surrounded by the strange new scents, was probably overwhelming, Cmdr. Jeremy Skinner told The Clarion-Ledger. Officials think that's part of why Radar kept evading searchers.

Radar was finally corralled on Oct. 7 not too far from the accident scene and was noticeably emaciated. He was taken to a veterinarian to be evaluated, and while he was there, he and his handler were reunited. Radar was soon back to his normal, playful self.

"Every day since we picked him up, he does this now. ... He just sits here in my lap and he'll hold my hand, and that's about it," Russell said.