Lake County Sheriff’s Deputies responded on August 24, 2017 to the block of 28900 West Park Drive in unincorporated Barrington to a report of a missing 39 year-old man. The man was in mental crisis and told his loved ones he wished to inflict harm on himself. The man was missing for over an hour and those searching for the man were unable to locate him.
Deputy John Forlenza and his K-9 partner, Dax, responded to the scene. Deputy Forlenza and Dax immediately started tracking the scent of the missing man. Dax and Deputy Forlenza tracked the man for nearly one mile, before locating him facedown near the shoreline of the Fox River. The man was incoherent and in mental distress.
The man was subsequently transported to a local hospital for a mental health/wellbeing evaluation.
Sheriff Mark Curran said, “Dax and Deputy Forlenza likely saved this man’s life and I am extremely proud of them. We have four canine teams in the community every day, keeping Lake County safe. They have an excellent record of locating missing people, finding fleeing offenders, and detecting contraband. Our canine teams are an asset to the Lake County community.”
In the past two years K-9 Dax has also located a fleeing domestic battery suspect, and a suspect that punched a Fox River Grove police officer during a traffic stop in the last two years.
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