The use of dogs in missing persons investigations

Abstract

Dogs have been used by mankind in various forms for hundreds of years. This chapter will look at how Cadaver Detection dogs are trained and used in the modern age by utilizing their most basic instinct to find food. It will focus on good and bad traits in training and how these can impact on operational searches during missing person’s investigations. The chapter will also seek to inform the reader about some aspects of search dogs’ capabilities that are not commonly known, such as blood detection or submerged body detection. Case studies will also help to show how the training of the dog and handler have influenced investigations and their ultimate outcome. Moreover, it is hoped that the reader will have caused to consider the use dogs in any search based on the capabilities outlined herein.