FARMINGTON, Utah — Uncovered footage revealed moments leading up to a K9 Officer gone missing. Davis County Sheriff's Office has since called off the search.
On October 22, the Sheriff’s office reported their K9 ran away from the jail visitation area.
In the video, the K9 handler brought him outside of the facility.
"The K9 handler was taking Kash out for a restroom break,” explained Sheriff Sparks. "We've had a pretty extensive search. The first few days, it included a ground search with many of our deputies and some neighboring jurisdictions helping out, including an aerial search."
Kash underwent training to become a tracking K9 when he disappeared.
"Kash was a brand new dog. We only had possession of him for about 4 weeks. The handler that was with Kash was a brand new handler,” said Sparks.
"It is very unusual to lose a K9,” said Chris Bertram, retired deputy chief of police.
Kash and his handler were still in the bonding phase when he ran away.
"Obviously this is a failure by our department,” admitted Sheriff Sparks. “We have engaged in a systemic investigation. We want to know why that incident occurred. Obviously there are some decisions by the deputy who was the handler. 'Why were those decisions made, what led up to that?'"
He explained their policy is for K9s to be on a leash in places accessible to the public.
"I always like to say, if the policy was hard and fast, and this individual went off of the policy, there may be some discipline,” said Bertram. “If the practice was, the policy says this, but the K9's were actually doing this, i think there needs to be a readjustment."
There's a $2,000 reward for finding K9 Kash, anyone with information is asked to contact them.
