Found Deceased CO - David Puckett, 6, Aurora, 31 Dec 2016

[Snoods]

The case I would like to see them use Bloodhounds on, would be the Todd 'TJ' Allen case. He has been missing for over a week now after he supposedly crashed his dirt bike on a trail. A good Bloodhound should have no problem tracking his dirt bike. Unfortunately they have had hundreds of amature searchers searching for him based on information from psychics. :facepalm: They need to get those idiots out of there and let some good Bloodhounds track him.

Ugh, psychics. I still get angry thinking about that charlatan Sylvia Browne, who told the families of Shawn Hornbeck and Amanda Berry that they were both dead.

 

[Alexsea]

How air-scenting dogs work

All humans constantly emit microscopic particles bearing human scent. By the millions, these particles become airborne and can be carried by the wind for considerable distances. Airborne scent is concentrated near its source, follows the air currents, and becomes more dilute the further it travels. An air scenting SAR dog is especially trained to locate the scent of any human in a specific area and close in on the source of the scent, and can do so from hundreds of metres away, in heavy bush or in the dark. SAR dogs are not restricted to following the missing person's track and can search long after the track is obliterated, zeroing in on where the person is now, regardless of how they got there.

Search suitability

In addition to wilderness searches for missing persons, air scenting search dogs can be a valuable asset (2) in searches:

-in rural areas including farmland.
-in and around houses for children who may be hiding.
-for elderly persons who have wandered off.
-of snowfields, especially in whiteout conditions.
-for deliberately concealed bodies (3) where only a general location tip has been received.
-in heavy bush around lakeshores for incapacitated or deceased victims who may have swum or been washed ashore.
-from a boat over still water for bodies floating well below the surface.

http://www.vsrda.org/about-vsrda/using-air-scent-dogs

This is absolutely correct. Dogs work when the correctly trained dog is brought in for the situation at hand. A traditional bloodhound may do nothing when an air-scent trained dog gets there immediately. Having the correctly trained dog for the immediate situation is when the dogs work. Unfortunately LE may not have the access they need for the right dog at the right time.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Rott Mom]

This was not the way 2017 should have begun - Another little soul in heaven.

 

[niknik]

The CBI has issued an AMBER ALERT on the second day he has been missing for the missing boy due to our dropping temperatures.

The CBI

Here is the update on Facebook from Aurora PD:

"To answer some questions we are getting: We are still looking for David. There is not an Amber Alert in this case as it does not meet CBI requirements for and Amber Alert (read more here https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cbi/amber-alert), anyone is welcome to search on their own, we are asking you check your property especially, we have not organized volunteers to search at this time, we are utilizing search organizations to search currently, and we will update immediately the second he is confirmed to be found. Thank you all very much for your concern, the time you have spent spreading the word and searching, and your continued attention to our search for David."


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[1&2&3]

So sorry to check in and see the news. I've wondered why they didn't search the pond(S) the morning after he went missing.

RIP little David. Condolences to his family.

 

[Rachel1]

I have a question- ( I haven't read this entire thread so please forgive me if it has been previously mentioned. I'm new here and still trying to get a feel for this board)
Yesterday I heard that this child has wondered off before. What (legally )could happen to the parents in these types of situations? Clearly they knew their child had some type of learning disability and was known to walk off. Should the parents be held accountable for at the very least child endangerment for not keeping a proper eye on him? Could they be held responsible in any way?

 

[AmyPond]

Poor little one...breaks my heart. I think the only time I have ever really spanked my little one was the time I watched her walk out the door, and quietly followed her as she made her way to the sidewalk. Scared me to death that she was brave enough to do that. I remember calling my husband and crying because it scared me she would do that, and upset because I had spanked her. After that I called a child proof service who came in and installed lots of safety measures. I only pray that his death was so swift he wasn't scared long and that other parents may take an over abundance of caution. You can buy little alarms that go on doors and windows that will make a piercing beeping sound if opened. If you have children, younger or older, they are worth every penny.

We have those alarms on our doors. And I plan to stick one on our hotel door during our next vacation. Our son has autism and as of yet, doesn't know how to get out the doors but I worry about when he figures it out. The door/window alarms are pretty cheap on Amazon.

 

[gitana1]

Press Conference 1.3.17 @ 11:10am MST via Periscope (Aurora Police Dept)

Body found in pond. Body is a child. More details to come.

This is horrible news. Poor little doll.

The tracking dogs and bloodhounds are useless..............they should just leave them at home and quit wasting time. I can't tell you the countless searches that have been conducted using those dogs and eventually the missing person was found dead a few hundred feet away from where they were last seen. The dogs never picked up on a scent........ever. Lindsey Piccone is the most recent one that comes to mind, but there are dozens of others, maybe even hundreds of cases like that. I've evolved to the point now where I think the entire concept of tracking dogs is nothing more than an urban myth.

Also, I think they are expanding the search perimeter out way too far. It was dark, it was cold, he was alone, and he was mad.................he didn't go very far. Like many little boys his age, I'll bet he has a favorite hiding place that few people know about with maybe the exception of his brother and some other friends. If this was a campground or a forest, I would be all for the idea of expanding the search out 3 or 4 miles, but this is an urban area with plenty of good hiding places within a couple of blocks from his home.

Another thing, if his house has a fireplace and a chimney, somebody needs to skedaddle their butt up on the roof and take a look down inside of it.

Hey Steel. But don't they sometimes track effectively? Didn't they track the child's scent here, to the pond?:


"Tracking dogs led investigators to the pond, which is being treated as a crime scene."
http://www.denverpost.com/2017/01/03/david-puckett-aurora-missing-boy-search/


"Elrod, 43, of Danielsville, was later apprehended after he was found with the use of a tracking dog."
http://onlineathens.com/blotter/2016-12-30/madison-county-blotter


"A 72-year-old dementia patient has been found safe, nearly 24 hours after he went missing.
Smith was finally located by crews from the Metro Office of Emergency Management with the assistance of "non-aggressive" tracking dogs. He was found in a wooded area near the agricultural center sometime around noon Tuesday."
http://www.newschannel5.com/news/dementia-patient-found-in-good-condition


"A retired Columbus police canine who was known for his tracking talents and aggressively going after the smell of narcotics has died.
K-9 Rex, who made nearly 250 apprehensions since joining the police department in July 2008, was put to sleep Monday at the Hope Veterinary Clinic.
Rex once tracked a suspect across Haw Creek near the hospital, and found a woman after tracking her 2 miles through the woods, Lehman said."
http://www.therepublic.com/2016/12/29/former_city_police_dog_dies/


"Deputies undertook a search for the suspect that afternoon between Canyon Creek and New Castle, slowing commuter traffic along the highway. They used a dog to track the suspect to the riverbank but lost the trail that night. The next day, they found the suspect’s wallet, clothing, pools of blood and tracks leading to the river, the Sheriff’s Office said.
.On Wednesday search and rescue crews found a bloody knife in the same area of the blood and clothing, and searched both sides of the river with specially trained dogs that indicated the suspect’s body was probably still in the river..
The Sheriff’s Office said the body that was recovered has been turned over to the county coroner for positive identification and notification of next of kin. Garfield Coroner Robert Glassmire couldn’t be reached for comment."
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/articles/body-recovered-from-river-may-be-car-theft-suspect/


"Plattz and Julie Jones told jurors their dogs picked up scent form Birgfeld and Jones in the area where Birgfeld's car was found torched at Walker SMS a few days earlier in July 2007. They both confirmed Jones' scent was tracked from that area to his place of work, Bob Scott RV, not far from that area.
Plattz's search dog did track Birgfeld's scent to Jones' place of work, Bob Scott RV, but was not able to find an exit trail. Julie Jones said her dog never picked up the scent of Birgfeld at Bob Scott RV.
In separate searches, Plattz and Julie Jones followed Birgfeld's scent south down Highway 50 onto Bridgeport Road, where their dogs tracked her scent to the nearby Gunnison River. Both testified their dogs found cadaver scent at that location. Julie Jones testified her dog could not find an exit trail for Birgfeld, meaning Birgfeld's live scent could not be tracked out of the area. She did tell jurors her dog, however, found an exit scent for Jones back down Bridgeport Road."
http://www.westernslopenow.com/news...hows-potential-link-in-paige-birgfeld-murder-


"The dogs tracked his path to Bullhead Community Park, but the trail was lost at that point. The area where Caballero’s body was found is near the north end of Community Park; he was discovered in a wash south of the airport." http://www.mohavedailynews.com/news...cle_2da0d792-c75e-11e6-8076-d35fe9c4a894.html


"FOND DU LAC - A Fond du Lac Police Department police dog tracked and located an assault suspect Monday evening.
The male subject, a 22-year-old Illinois man, had jumped off the second story balcony and fled on foot.
One of the police dogs tracked and found the suspect inside a storage garage of a local apartment complex which he had broken into."
http://www.fdlreporter.com/story/ne...-police-dog-locates-assault-suspect/95651748/


"Van Polen said she jumped out of a second-story window, drove away and called police.
Nearby residents were ordered to shelter in their homes. Others were evacuated.
Goldstein said at one point, police dogs tracked Brouillard's scent to the nearby river trail, but eventually lost it.
It's not far from where Wendy Jackson made a frightening discovery.
'Saw that someone had obviously tried to start what we call the plow truck, and it didn't start, and we saw footprints that were running across the pasture,' she said.
Jackson flagged down police and says officers were on the property for hours."
http://www.wmur.com/article/heavy-police-presence-in-franklin-neighborhood/8541310

 

[Rachel1]

I've bought those door alarms from the dollar store. Obviously they where not the best quality but they served their purpose. Maybe check your local dollar store ( before going on Amazon)

 

[Tabirey]

We have those alarms on our doors. And I plan to stick one on our hotel door during our next vacation. Our son has autism and as of yet, doesn't know how to get out the doors but I worry about when he figures it out. The door/window alarms are pretty cheap on Amazon.

Off topic, but we did this for my nephew who is on the spectrum and what a sense of relief to have some kind of back up in case he circumvented his Mom's safety precautions or ran from school!

https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2014/02/06/feds-clarify-tracking-devices/19085/

 

[Tabirey]

My condolences to this little angels loved ones. Fly high little man

 

[Rott Mom]

Why isn't this thread moved to "Located Persons"?

 

[Treelights]

Why isn't this thread moved to "Located Persons"?

Possibly because the body has not yet been positively identified...

IMOO.

 

[0101ABA]

Why isn't this thread moved to "Located Persons"?

While it appears in this case that formal identification is simply a formality, WS's policy is to wait until LE or the ME makes an official confirmation of ID before marking the thread as found deceased & moving it to located persons. HTH.

The search for a missing six-year-old boy came to an apparent and tragic end on Tuesday when a child’s body was found in a pond at Olympic Park in Aurora.

While authorities are not yet confirming that the body is David Puckett, the boy disappeared from a home near the park on Saturday.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/new...or-missing-6-year-old-david-puckett-in-aurora

 

[SerenitySprings]

I have a question- ( I haven't read this entire thread so please forgive me if it has been previously mentioned. I'm new here and still trying to get a feel for this board)
Yesterday I heard that this child has wondered off before. What (legally )could happen to the parents in these types of situations? Clearly they knew their child had some type of learning disability and was known to walk off. Should the parents be held accountable for at the very least child endangerment for not keeping a proper eye on him? Could they be held responsible in any way?

There are legal remedies for placing the onus of a case like this on one or more people. It will come down to what the police investigation turns up and whether or not the DA will press charges once the police hand the case over to them.

Sometimes something can be gained by using legal remedies but other times it would be inappropriate for any variety of legal reasons. In Colorado the DAs like to focus more on a rehabilitation remedy rather than one of incarceration.

This response is not intended to in any way say whether or not the family should be held responsible for this horribly tragic accident but rather to provide an answer on whether or not there is a legal remedy in any case.

MOO

My heart goes out to this family. I cannot imagine the guilt and remorse they must all be feeling due to this incident. My heart is broken for every single one of them. My hope is that they will one day find peace and be able to forgive themselves because I think if I were them, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself.

The community has come together and I know we will support the family in any way they need, even if that means we respect their need for privacy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[tlcya]

I have a question- ( I haven't read this entire thread so please forgive me if it has been previously mentioned. I'm new here and still trying to get a feel for this board)
Yesterday I heard that this child has wondered off before. What (legally )could happen to the parents in these types of situations? Clearly they knew their child had some type of learning disability and was known to walk off. Should the parents be held accountable for at the very least child endangerment for not keeping a proper eye on him? Could they be held responsible in any way?

There was an initial report that he had wandered in the past from home. However when questioned about that in one of the press conferences the police spokesperson stated that they were only aware of an instance where David wandered from his school in the past.

 

[steelman]

This is horrible news. Poor little doll.



Hey Steel. But don't they sometimes track effectively? Didn't they track the child's scent here, to the pond?:


http://www.wmur.com/article/heavy-police-presence-in-franklin-neighborhood/8541310

No, they didn't. Listen to the press conference from yesterday. The Captain said that dogs were brought in at the very beginning, but with no success......then they brought in a "specialty" dog, which tracked to the pond. So with a little bit of twisted logic and stretching.........I guess one could say the dog (singular) found him.

For every success story you can list, I can come up with 10 examples where the dogs failed...............veteran sleuthers in here know exactly what I'm talking about.


You can watch the press conference in it's entirety here: https://www.facebook.com/fox31denver/videos/10154966222396600/

The comment about the dogs starts around 5:50

 

[MzOpinion8d]

I'm thinking he probably walked down to the edge of the pond and stepped on the ice, which wasn't solid, and he just slipped right in and under the layer of ice, which then prevented him from being able to get back above the surface. There might not have been any "break" in the ice to even see, since the edges are usually ragged anyway.

Are there lights around the pond at night? That's one thing that would be strange, if he approached it in the dark.

 

[SerenitySprings]

Police call off search to wait for coroner to identify body found Tuesday 1.3.17.

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/01/04/aurora-missing-boy-david-puckett/

Aurora police have stopped searching for 6-year-old David Puckett as they wait for the Arapahoe County Coroner to identify the body of a child that a dive team found Tuesday beneath the ice in a pond at Olympic Park.

“At this point, we’re just waiting for results to come in from the coroner for a positive ID and a manner of death,” Sgt. Chris Amsler, police spokesman, said Wednesday.

The coroner’s office expects to release an identification and preliminary autopsy findings sometime on Wednesday, said Sarah Saile, a medical investigator for the coroner’s office.

 

[gitana1]

No, they didn't. Listen to the press conference from yesterday. The Captain said that dogs were brought in at the very beginning, but with no success......then they brought in a "specialty" dog, which tracked to the pond. So with a little bit of twisted logic and stretching.........I guess one could say the dog (singular) found him.

For every success story you can list, I can come up with 10 examples where the dogs failed...............veteran sleuthers in here know exactly what I'm talking about.


You can watch the press conference in it's entirety here: https://www.facebook.com/fox31denver/videos/10154966222396600/

The comment about the dogs starts around 5:50

Yes. True. They are not always effective. But one dog did track him. So he was, in fact, found by a tracking dog. I;m not sure how that shows these dogs aren't useful. And the examples I gave above show they absolutely can track effectively. So it's not hocus pocus.

But they are live animals being handled by humans. Some are likely better than others and some are likely better trained than others. Some are better suited to a type of tracking than others. Sometimes the authorities don't have access to the type of dog they need right away.

The bottom line is, however, if your kid or elderly parent was missing, would you say, "No. I refuse to allow tracking dogs because often they don't work." Or would you say, "This is a resource I want to utilize because it can work and I want to do everything possible to find my loved one."?

Almost nothing is 100% infallible. But fallibility does not equate to being useless, IMO.