A Sheriff's Dog Named Arch Picked Up A Scent And Led Rescuers To Three Lost Children
On a Saturday morning in late September, a large family camping near the Midland Bike Trail east of Buena Vista, Colorado, realized three of their children had wandered away — a nine-year-old and two six-year-olds — and after two hours searching on their own, called the Chaffee County Sheriff's Office at around 11 a.m. Deputies arrived, called in Chaffee County Search and Rescue, and assembled a search with volunteers on foot in a grid pattern, drones overhead, a helicopter scanning from above, and one more team member who would turn out to make all the difference: a yellow Labrador-type canine deputy named Arch.
According to the sheriff's office, Arch picked up a scent from the campsite almost immediately and, in the office's own words, was "clearly on a mission," leading the search teams in a specific direction into the wilderness rather than wandering or doubling back, which allowed the foot teams to follow the same route and work upward through the terrain until from higher ground they could see three small children below. By two o'clock that afternoon, approximately five hours after the family first noticed the children were gone and about a mile and a half from camp. All three were found safe, uninjured, and in good health, back with their family before dinner. "The teams worked amazingly quick and effective to bring these kids back to their worried families," said Sheriff Andy Rohrich. "I can only imagine the panic they must have felt." He then singled out Arch by name: "Now adding our buddy Arch to the team, as a tool, I would match this team against any other in the state. I am very proud of them all."
