Shelley Terry
Star Beacon
ANDOVER, Ohio — A Windsor Fire Department K-9 partner and its owner are being credited for helping save the life of a 28-year-old disabled man from Texas who went missing Sunday evening.
Jacob (last name not being released) was last seen at about 1 p.m. walking near the woods where about 50 family members had gathered to celebrate the Fourth of July in Andover.
“He had been missing for four hours when my K-9 partner, Niko, and I were called out to look for a missing male with disabilities,” Assistant Fire Chief Callie Mallory said.
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Mallory and Niko soon joined the Andover Fire Department and the Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Office on the scene.
“My dog picked up the track right away from where Jacob was last seen in the woods,” Mallory said.
While tracking the scent, Mallory and Niko first came to a park with a boat launch and when Mallory told the people there about Jacob, they said they had seen him around 2 p.m., she said. “So, I knew my dog was going in the right direction.”
Tracking the scent down the road, another man told Mallory he saw a man matching Jacob’s description about 25 minutes earlier.
“Just down the street, we saw Jacob walking toward us,” she said. “When we got back to Jacob’s family gathering, about 50 people gave us a standing ovation. They were so happy.”
Windsor Fire Chief David Turk said it only took Mallory and Niko 25 minutes to find Jacob.
“It was so nice to end the weekend on a high note,” Turk said. “It was a great team effort.”
Mallory got Niko, a 3-year-old German Shepherd, when he was only 12 weeks old and she trained him herself, she said.
Jacob is the second missing person Niko has found, she said.
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