K9 Deputy Booth and K9 Copper

By Zak Failla From Daily Voice

A Virginia woman in a mental health crisis was found alive deep in the woods thanks to a police bloodhound who followed her trail for more than a mile in the dark, officials said.

K9 Copper and her handler, Deputy Booth, were called in on Sunday, Nov. 30, to help the Fauquier County Sheriff’s Office after a woman went missing. 

According to the Culpeper County Sheriff’s Office, deputies arrived at the home, collected items of clothing for scent, and gathered details about the woman’s last known location.

She had been missing for nearly four hours.

With the clock ticking, the two agencies launched a coordinated search — and then they let Copper do what she was trained to do.

The sheriff’s office said Copper tracked the scent for 1.1 miles in 31 minutes, pulling Deputy Booth into “a heavy underbrushed area.” Above them, a Fauquier County drone picked up a heat signature ahead of the team.

Ground units pushed forward and found the woman alive. She was turned over to Fauquier County deputies for medical attention.

The sheriff’s office credited not just Copper’s nose, but the hours of training behind it.

“K9 Deputy Booth and K9 Copper have put in a tremendous amount of work over the past year to achieve their certification as a tracking and trailing K9 with the Virginia Police Canine Association,” Lt. Bryant Arrington said.

He added that with calls involving “lost and missing children, along with project lifesaver, and project silver,” Copper, with “her 300 million olfactory sensors,” has become “an amazing asset not only to the Culpeper Sheriff’s Office K-9 section but our community.”

Arrington said the pair trains every week in all kinds of conditions to stay ready, concluding, “I am extremely proud of this team and their capabilities.”