Police Dog Leads Rescue Of Missing Four-Year-Old Wyoming Child

Rock Springs Police and Sweetwater County Sheriff's Office deputies were called out around 6 p.m. on Sunday, July 28 on a report of a missing four-year-old child in the 900 block of Jefferson Avenue in Rock Springs.

The boy's mother told police her son had been playing with the family's dogs in their yard but had wandered off. She said her son had developmental disabilities that inhibited his communication skills, and that he had been missing for about 20 minutes.

RSPD officers and Sweetwater County Sheriff's deputies began searching the area both in vehicles and on foot. Around 6:25 p.m. Deputy Sheriff Derek Morrell and his K9 partner, deputy Jara, arrived on the scene.

Jara forcefully dragged Deputy Morrell down an alley near the child's home and then strongly alerted to a parked and locked vehicle in the alley.

Deputy Morrell looked inside the car and saw the boy sleeping on the floorboard. With the help of police officer Jennifer Chick the car's owner was found and opened the vehicle to rescue the child.

After a brief medical examination, the boy was reunited with his mother.