Maine Warden Service K9 Luna Locates Missing Elderly Oxford Man
A Maine Warden Service K9 bounded ahead of his human partner, to locate an 80-year-old man with dementia.
Thomas Cushman left his house on Tiger Hill Road in Oxford at around 10:30 Thursday morning, to survey his property lines. But when he hadn't returned by 3:00 in the afternoon, his family became concerned and called 911. Members of the Oxford Police Department, Oxford County Sheriff's Office, and the Maine State Police responded to the call, and launched a search for Cushman. Among the searchers were Maine Warden Michael Latti and his K9 Luna, along with a State Police K9 unit.
It was a little after 5:00 when Luna and Latti began an air scent search. Luna quickly picked up Cushman's scent and started tracking down an old woods road. Luna got ahead of Latti and, as he followed, he heard her start barking, which is Luna's signal that she's found someone. Latti and State Trooper Fillebrown went to Luna's location and found beside Cushman, who was sitting on a rock. Fillebrown and Latti helped Cushman out of the woods. He was examined by emergency medical personnel before being reunited with his family.
Luna has had a successful couple of months. It was on a Saturday at the end of August when Luna and Latti were called to help locate a missing girl with autism in Gorham. An air scent was launched and, once again, Luna located the 11-year-old in just a few minutes. Like Mr. Cushman, the youngster had wandered into the woods.
We're sure Luna got some sort of reward for a job well done. Good dog.