Lost & Found

Reyna & Const. Henderson

 Whether you are lost personally or have lost someone you love, there is hardly a more helpless feeling. And if you have lost a child, the sheer terror of that event, even if only a few minutes is beyond measure. All the ingredients for such an episode however, were ripe in the story of a very adventurous four year old named Reyna Harthi. She was home with a babysitter who lost track of the energetic little one that just so happened to have decided to go exploring with her dog in the wooded area surrounding her home. Soon she was more than a kilometer away having navigated through two different barbed wire fences with no idea where she was or how to get back.

The girl's mom, Elvira Harthi was soon notified and police were called to the scene to help locate the missing child. Constable Garfield Henderson and his K-9 partner, Enzo soon arrived and began the tracking process. Having quickly picked up on Reyna's scent the pair carved a path through the thick woods and within a brisk fifteen minute trek found the young girl crying but grateful to have been found. Enzo comforted the young one, who soon forgot the tears and began petting her new four legged friend as a means of saying thanks! Constable Henderson scooped up the lost girl who then clutched his neck and held on tight.

Upon reuniting with her mom, who speaks in broken English, she proclaimed, "It was a blessing for me. The only thing what I can say is thanks to the Lord that we can find her." The rescue team felt the same way. Constable Henderson normally uses his K-9 handling skills to chase fleeing criminals or make drug busts both of which put him and his beloved partner in harms way. In this situation he commented, "That is what I am here to do and that's one of the best calls I've probably worked in my career as a dog handler!"

Hopefully Reyna will keep that adventurous spirit but learn from this scary episode to stay with adults and under close supervision...