Charon K9 Solutions, LLC Handlers Provide Critical Piece In the successful

Cold Water Creek Recreation Area, Mount St. Helens Wilderness, Washington (September 27, 2020) – Anthony Mancuso (Subject), 16 years old, went for a hike with his mother and sister in the Cold Water Creek Recreation area, just North of Mount St. Helens. At 14:05, the subject stepped off of the Hummocks Trail #229 to relieve himself and didn’t come back. He was not more than 150 yards from the trailhead and the parking lot when he disappeared.

At 18:38 on Monday 9/28/2020, 28 hours after Anthony’s disappearance, K9 Blue and K9 Jax and their handler(s) David Price and Jensen Huffman (respectively) responded to a request for assistance from the subject’s family. The family had put out a call for help on social media and a co-worker knew about the Charon K9 Solutions search team through work with Huffman K9 Obedience LLC, a dog training service owned by Mr. Huffman.

Upon arrival, Mr. Price and Mr. Huffman immediately began compiling information from the subject’s father and other SAR volunteers to create a “target packet.” This information is critical to establish knowledge about search efforts already employed, heath and other personal information about the missing subject such as medical conditions, outdoor skills, and anything else that might provide helpful insight. Despite substantial SAR efforts over the previous 28 hours (including drones with infrared, helicopters, ground SAR personnel and other tracking dogs) no additional clues or evidence had been found to shed light on what happened to Mr. Mancuso or where he was. Upon arrival SAR operations were being recalled back to base to close for the night with a plan to restart search efforts in the morning.

The 4 Man team (identified by the “designation” DOG TEAM 2), consisting of both handlers (and their K9 partners), a member of Clark County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team (CCSOSAR) and a civilian volunteer were dispatched with the K9s as support personnel. Just before sundown at approximately 19:00, approximately 15 yards from the trailhead the dogs were presented with the scent article and started to track the subject. Handlers utilized the subject’s pillowcase as the primary scent article. In an effort to avoid handler cues which could sway the dogs behavior, the handlers were not told where on the trail the subject was last seen, known as the Place Last Seen (PLS), and had left the trail. Both dogs successfully indicated at the PLS before continuing down the trail and eventually turning back to the last point of interest. A crew of 15 volunteers clogged the trail around the PLS creating a significant distraction for the dogs. Both handlers called out indications at the PLS before continuing down the path and eventually turning back. Upon returning to the PLS the tracking dogs turned East, off the trail, substantiating the information provided by the young man’s mother, that the subject had stepped off the path in the same direction.

The track continued East until the team came to a steep slide area. A 2-3 minute listening post was established by K9 Jax prior to committing to moving down the scree slope where K9 Jax paused to process the information he was taking in and decide which direction to go. The dogs continued to track for approximately 30 minutes until the dogs alerted to the first article found (a crumpled medical mask), consistent with information contained in the target packet.
The find was marked with flagging tape and the GPS coordinates were radioed back to the Sheriff Command Center.

The dogs were restarted and continued to track for another 150 feet until the dogs alerted on a size 9.5, black mesh Adidas shoe, again consistent with the subject’s target packet. The article was flagged with marking tape and the GPS coordinates were radioed back to the Sheriff Command Center. A few feet away, fresh barefoot tracks were found traveling in a direction consistent with the direction of travel established by the two points (mask and shoe). The tracking team was restarted and continued to track the subject.

Based on the significance of the two articles, SAR command dispatched search teams to the area where the articles were located and began searching for the subject in accordance with the established direction of travel. They quickly found the second shoe. Shortly thereafter, Anthony Mancuso was found in a tree nearby one of the searchers. He was dehydrated, scratched and bug bitten but otherwise healthy.

Charon K9 Solutions LLC is both proud of our handlers and their K9 partners for the integral part they played in the successful rescue of Anthony Mancuso and honored to be included in the search efforts. We would like to thank the family for their trust in our handlers and our K9s. We would also like to thank Clark County Sheriff’s Office for supporting our efforts. Lastly we would like to extend thanks to Don Jacobs of CCSOSAR and civilian volunteer Collin McKean. Despite having been on site and searching for more than 14 hours, their support of our K9 teams was invaluable during the search efforts.

Established in 2019, Charon K9 Solutions LLC has become known for providing contraband detection, explosive ordnance detection, tracking and private security dogs/handler teams to cargo shipping and fulfillment centers, school systems, private businesses, individuals, special care homes and public institutions.

Questions and comments can be directed to:

Jensen Huffman
Co-founder Charon K9 Solutions LLC
503.849.8781
Charon K9 Solutions LLC
Jensen@charonk9.com
Charonk9.com
https://www.facebook.com/111328460440528/
https://instagram.com/charonk9_llc?igshid=k2q6thkzq516