NH police dog Wyatt saves the day after Portsmouth woman, 76, goes missing

PORTSMOUTH —  Missing for several hours, a 76-year-old Portsmouth woman was found safe Tuesday afternoon by a New Hampshire State Police dog after she wandered from her Banfield Road residence, according to police.

State and city police are commending K-9 Wyatt, his handler, Trooper First Class Kevin Devlin, Trooper First Class Brian Gacek and Trooper Seth Parker for finding the missing woman.

Just before noon Tuesday, the Portsmouth Police Department asked state police for assistance in locating the woman, who walked away from her home around 9:30 a.m. and had been last seen around Banfield Road.

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City police “feared that the woman was lost and unable to find her way home,” state police wrote in a press release.

K-9 Wyatt, a 7-year-old Plott hound, and state police responded to the area to search.

At 1:17 p.m., according to Sgt. Jordan Wells of the Portsmouth Police Department, the dog and state troopers found the woman safe on Anne Avenue, roughly 1.1 miles from Banfield Road.

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K-9 Wyatt's credentials

K-9 Wyatt joined the New Hampshire State Police in 2015, according to spokesperson Amber Lagace, and has certifications in both cadaver detection and search and rescue operations.

“The New Hampshire State Police Canine Unit teams, comprised of a specially trained trooper and dog, are trained in one or more of the following: patrol, search and rescue, drug detection, human remains detection, explosives and gunshot residue detection,” Lagace stated.

Every K-9 and handler team are trained and certified to New England State Police Administrators Conference standards, Lagace added.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: NH police dog Wyatt finds missing Portsmouth woman