K-9 helps lost North Carolina child find his way home to family

INDIAN TRAIL, N.C. (WTVD) -- A rookie K-9 officer flipped the script: Instead of tracking down someone, he helped a lost child find his way home.

It happened on the first weekend of July in Union County. A person called 911 when they saw a child wandering down the street alone.

When officers arrived, they could not figure out where the boy was from. They said he was nonverbal and couldn't communicate to them where he needed to go.

So officers called in Remi.

"They normally train them to start where the person was last seen and to go find that person. However, in this case, we're doing it in reverse order. So the dog is simply using that scent article, in this case, the child's smell from his arms and back of his neck to track backwards to find that same smell inside of a home," Union County Sheriff Public Information Officer Lieutenant James Maye said.

Remi's handler, Deputy B. Belk, said he was not at all surprised at how quickly and effectively Remi got the child home. He has trained Remi since he was just 8 weeks old.

The child and his parents were successfully reunited and the parents will not face criminal charges in the case.

"It's just Union County, it's just good people all the way around. We've got great people that called us for help," Maye said. "We got great law enforcement officers that responded and ultimately, you know, the child is safe with his parents now and so we're happy for this outcome."