Trail to the Water & Cadaver dog hits

[tabbykiki]

I'm having a hard time wading through the long threads to find this information. Does anyone have any links or info on what the dogs found? Did they bring in dogs to smell decomposition or just bloodhounds to track her scent? Were they able to track her scent?

[darlin gal]

A canine officer followed a track that lead directly out the back door of the home and down a wooded path.
Deputies found what appeared to be a small footprint in the dirt, but noted Haleigh’s shoes were still inside her home.
The tracking dog led deputies to a pond and back to Green Drive, Haleigh’s street. Deputies looked inside a small building with a door that had been left open. Nothing was inside.
The track continued north past Haleigh’s home down Monroe Avenue and onto Buchan Circle, which looped back to Monroe Avenue. The canine officer continued to track down Buffalo Bluff Road but lost the track at the railroad crossing.

[tabbykiki]

Did they say if the footprint was of a barefoot or a foot with a shoe? Just curious... You'd think the perp would have carried her, especially if she was taken asleep. Poor baby probably had no idea what was going on.

[Recovering-Lurker]

Originally Posted by tabbykiki

Did they say if the footprint was of a barefoot or a foot with a shoe? Just curious... You'd think the perp would have carried her, especially if she was taken asleep. Poor baby probably had no idea what was going on.

IIRC, they said footprint. I would think if it were a shoe print, they would have stated it that way.

[shadow of my mind]

route of the tracking dogs

This is the post with the map that was done by JWG of the route of the tracking dogs.
[I don’t know how to bring this over to this thread]
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sho...&postcount=318

EDIT Newer version of map

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sho...83&postcount=4

[DotsEyes]

These were tracking dogs. It seems that maybe some child's clothing was found, but not a pink top and underpants. This afternoon, LE in FL made it clear that the description of the last known items that Haleigh was wearing were not as originally stated, and that the important thing was to look carefully at her face because everything else could be changed.

[moonlighting]

I have a question for some of you experienced sleuths:
In general, when LE dogs find a trail like the one left by Haleigh, would they then give the dogs an additional person's (such as Misty, Ron, RSO's..) scent to see if any of them accompanied her? I know they would look for additional shoe prints. But would it be routine to see if anybody else took that same pathway with her?

[catch_22]

i am not at all familiar with tracking dogs and how reliable they are. nor do i know what other possible factors could be involved, but the trail the dog followed seems very strange to say the least. i can't imagine why a perp would take her around in circles through the neighborhood and not straight out to the main road.

if haleigh never even made it to bed that night, and the dog used sheets and blankets to get her scent, then is it possible that the dog was tracking a different person? it kind of sounds like this family may have had a habit of playing musical beds. i question how sure they can be that the dog was tracking haleigh's scent and not someone else's.

how could her scent just stop at the rr crossing? LE are human too and once the dog tracked out of the subdivision and to the main road......it would seem that haleigh left in a vehicle and was out of the immediate area. i wouldn't blame an officer if he stopped at this point. if he continued.......the next thing he might know was that it was 3 hours later, he was ten miles down the road, and still "tracking." the dog could have been a great help if it led to another trailer in the neighborhood, but going to the main road means to me that she was long gone (IF the dog was in fact correctly tracking her scent).

wouldn't her scent probably be all around her house and neighborhood from playing outside, taking walks, going to/from the bus stop? i think someone said the dog would track the "newest" scent, but what if there wasn't a "new" scent from that night to be tracked?

[Seahorseladydi]

Does anyone know if they had cadaver dogs out in the search today?

I wonder why not... and why not bring more dogs in?

This is odd to me... with Ashley and Miranda they had dogs out there 3 or 4 times....

[winterrose]

The thing is,this was a trail they would go on to water and then on road to Misty's brother's house.They asked her if she walked on the road w/kids and she said yes.I would assume they used cadaver dogs on the searches after the first night.

[tx_Dot]

Originally Posted by Seahorseladydi

Does anyone know if they had cadaver dogs out in the search today?

I wonder why not... and why not bring more dogs in?

This is odd to me... with Ashley and Miranda they had dogs out there 3 or 4 times....

Originally Posted by winterrose

The thing is,this was a trail they would go on to water and then on road to Misty's brother's house.They asked her if she walked on the road w/kids and she said yes.I would assume they used cadaver dogs on the searches after the first night.

I've been asking/watching for info on any cadaver dogs since 2-14.....

One news report said LE would be using 15 cadaver dogs, but if LE has reported any 'hits', I've missed it........also be nice if LE would report NO 'hits'.

With the house the 'crime scene' you would think LE would take the dogs in & around the house......

[tiredofthis]

Originally Posted by Seahorseladydi

Does anyone know if they had cadaver dogs out in the search today?

I wonder why not... and why not bring more dogs in?

This is odd to me... with Ashley and Miranda they had dogs out there 3 or 4 times....

Maybe they have brought more dogs in and they just haven't told us. It seems like the public is being kept in the dark about a lot in this case.


I am so sorry about your son. I clicked on the link because your son's picture reminded me of a similiar picture I have of my son.

Bless you and your family.

[Carla Lashelle]

Im not sure if its available online but Mythbusters had a segment about tracking dogs/how they work/ and can you beat one. IIRC Adam tried several methods to shake the dogs like changing clothes, going through water, etc. The dogs are pretty reliable, and while not totally foolproof, they would be hard to fake out without a VERY conscious effort. It would be hard to kidnap someone AND try to fool dogs at the same time. So I would say if dogs followed a scent in a particular track, the path would be pretty reliable.

[Indigo]

I would have been so helpful in the beginning if LE could have tracked the freshest scent trail of Misty and Ron also. I wonder why LE doesn't use this method.

[Wise Old Owl]

Originally Posted by tx_Dot

I've been asking/watching for info on any cadaver dogs since 2-14.....

One news report said LE would be using 15 cadaver dogs, but if LE has reported any 'hits', I've missed it........also be nice if LE would report NO 'hits'.

With the house the 'crime scene' you would think LE would take the dogs in & around the house......

Yes I heard about the 15 cadavar dogs as well. IIRC 5 were being brought in from Georgia. But that was it. Never heard another word. Did they all get there - where did LE take them? Did any of them get "hits" or not? Nothing - we were told nothing after that.

[dearmont]

Originally Posted by darlin gal

.....The canine officer continued to track down Buffalo Bluff Road but lost the track at the railroad crossing.

Does anyone know if the pond on Tyler St just across from the railroad crossing was dragged or in any way checked by LE?

[cleo612]

Although I have absolutely nothing to base my feelings on, other than pure gut instinct, I strongly believe that it was a SO who abducted little Haleigh.

If I were in law enforcement, I would take the cadaver dogs and search the property of every single one of those 44 SO's, including, but not limited to, underneath their mobile homes, as well as the insides of their homes and vehicles.

With so many SO's in that area, I would have to absolutely and completely rule out any possible involvement on their part before I could close the door on that avenue of thinking. Just because they interviewed those SO's within hours of the 911 call, does not mean anything to me.

Looking back at the Lunsford case would be enough for me to be concerned about absolutely ensuring that the SO's properties have been searched using every possible tool available, and, if necessary making multiple searches--including the use of cadaver dogs.

[Houndacres]

Originally Posted by Carla Lashelle

Im not sure if its available online but Mythbusters had a segment about tracking dogs/how they work/ and can you beat one. IIRC Adam tried several methods to shake the dogs like changing clothes, going through water, etc. The dogs are pretty reliable, and while not totally foolproof, they would be hard to fake out without a VERY conscious effort. It would be hard to kidnap someone AND try to fool dogs at the same time. So I would say if dogs followed a scent in a particular track, the path would be pretty reliable.

I remember that segment and they were not able to fool the bloodhounds in any of their attempts, even when they put pepper on the trail. That's not to say that dog searches are foolproof! Many factors will affect the outcome of a search; a reliable scent article, training of the dog, handler error.
IMOO, if the dogs lost the scent at the railroad tracks, she was taken off the ground at that point, wasn't on foot anymore, possibly a car.

[tabbykiki]

Does anyone have any maps to show the paths of the dogs?

[txsvicki]

If the dogs who got Haleigh's scent and stopped at the rail road tracks were tracking dogs, I wonder why they didn't then use trailing dogs. Someone posted good information on another thread explaining that the trailing dogs can follow a scent a long ways even if a person is in a vehicle. I've always wondered why LE in doesn't bring in trailing dogs on other missing cases including one in my own town. It would be good to know if cadaver dogs alerted to anything, especially by the rail road tracks since someone must have carried Haleigh on foot to a certain point because they couldn't drive down that trail to the dock.

[Scorpian]

Originally Posted by shadow of my mind

route of the tracking dogs

This is the post with the map that was done by JWG of the route of the tracking dogs.
[I don’t know how to bring this over to this thread]
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sho...&postcount=318

EDIT Newer version of map

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sho...83&postcount=4

Do you know where the bus stop is on the map? Is it in the same area, could the dogs have picked up her scent from the bus stop?

[Indigo]

Early on in this case, there were reports that one of Haleigh's scent trails had been tracked to/or close to the water. We also know that a considerable amount of time was spent searching in that area.


From an early interview with Sheriff Hardy:

Sheriff Hardy, you stated that dogs had hit near water. Has the child ever been down to the water with adult supervision? What do you make of them hitting near the water?

HARDY: Nancy, the -- we had several bloodhounds that went ahead and did several different tracks. They did track down towards the water area. We don`t know, you know. These bloodhounds can track scent for several days. Their noses are very astute. And so as far as tracking Haleigh all the way down to the water, that -- we`re uncertain about whether or not that Haleigh ended up in the water.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIP.../11/ng.01.html

According to Sheriff Hardy, a scent trail can linger for "several days." Had Haleigh been down to the water with Ron or Misty (or any other adult) in days previous, or was this a fresh trail?

There also seems to be conflicting information about Haleigh being afraid of the water. Some interviews indicate this is the case, yet we've seen photos of Haleigh at the beach with wet hair.


Your thoughts?

[SeriouslySearching]

Ronald had the kids all weekend and he was off work. LE took his john boat early on. I think it could indicate maybe he had taken the kids out to fish possibly? If so, it could account for the scent lingering where the dogs would pick it up.

Even kids afraid of water love a beach if they are not forced to go in, but sit near the edge to get wet with an adult there. They don't mind wading pools or kiddie pools either.

[passionflower]

It has always bothered me about 2 things that the dogs went to.
The RR tracks and the dock at the water.
Lots of photos show a happy girl all wet, water in the background.
She doesn't seem to be afraid of water that much.
IIRC, the water was searched at first but the river goes to JAX and ocean.

[balaney]

I missed the part about a boat? So, there was a way for someone to transfer Haleigh from land to the deepest part of the pond or to the river?? How far would one have to carry the child to get to the boat?