A Colorado Sheriff’s K-9 is receiving attention after working quickly to locate a missing 7-year-old girl.
The child had been separated from her mother for two hours when Rex came in to track her scent. It took no time at all for him to pick up the trail, and in just 12 minutes, he was able to find the girl safely. It’s noteworthy that the dog has been trained to be a “triple threat,” meaning he’s trained to track, detect explosives, and provide emotional support, and this was actually his very first mission. Fox News’s Fox & Friends Weekend spoke to Rex and his handler, Deputy John Gray, about the scary evening’s happy ending.
Watch:
Good Boy! Colorado K-9 “Rex” finds missing girl in 12 minutes! 🐾 pic.twitter.com/wKc3Wq2jWk
— Derrick Evans (@DerrickEvans4WV) April 12, 2026
“It was super exciting to watch Rex, you know, we train every day, and for his training to play out and for us to be able to have good teamwork on scene between Rex and the other officers to get a child home safely was really impactful,” the deputy said.
Bodycam video reveals the moment that Rex took a sniff of the girl’s shoes, and immediately upon catching the scent, tracked her down. Once she was located, the dog switched from tracking mode to therapy dog mode, providing the scared, lost little girl with comfort and companionship.
Speaking to FOX31, Gray revealed that Rex is among the “first dogs in the state” to be trained in all three skills.
“He basically tells us two pieces of information: where somebody went and where somebody didn’t go. And we use that information to be able to work as a team to ultimately find people, which in this case is what happened. He told us where she hadn’t gone and told us where she did, and kind of directed us to a couple of backyards. And when we went into the backyard, I actually walked in there with him and was able to see (the child). And it was just a good case of teamwork. We were able to get her safely back to her mom,” Deputy Gray explained.
The mother of the missing girl tried to give Rex a reward for a job very well done, but unfortunately, he wasn’t able to take it.
“She tried giving Rex the pair of shoes to chew on, but I had a reminder that we can’t chew on things we’re not supposed to,” Gray said.
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Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.
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