Police K-9 escapes, found after extensive search

 

KUNA -- An all-night search for a missing K-9 ended with good news.

For hours, officers from Meridian, Boise, and Garden City police departments searched a Kuna neighborhood, but it wasn't until this morning that the Dutch the dog was found.

Dutch went missing at around 5 p.m. Tuesday after he escaped from an open gate in his handler's backyard.

"Last night one of our K-9 handlers who lives here in the Kuna area was having his sprinkler system blown out of his house," said Meridian Police Lt. Scott Colaianni. "The people who blew out his sprinkler system neglected to shut the gate."

Dutch ended up in a nearby neighborhood, where he lingered, hungry, tired and cold.  Concerned for his well being, the Hilderbrand family took him in to give him food and shelter for the night.

On Wednesday morning David Hilderbrand noticed police officers in his usually quiet neighborhood.

"I seen him driving down the road, yelling at the dog," said Hilderbrand.

Officers used the GEO cache system to alert several neighborhoods of the missing K-9.  When residents got the call, many joined the officers in their search efforts.

Dutch has been with the Meridian Police Department for 10 years.