In the early afternoon of Friday, March 6th, Eric Darling & Ben were called out to search for a missing teenager in Newtown Township, PA. Together with 7 other local canine search teams, the team scoured 20 acres in snowy conditions all day Friday and Saturday. Eric also served as Operations Chief for the search, spending long hours in the bitter cold planning the search strategy. Sadly, on Sunday morning, the body of the boy was found.
"We were working in 20-30 inch snow banks. Covering acreage like that in snow is a lot different than on dry land. It was interesting to see how Ben worked, slowing down his usual search speed (a hard thing for him to do!) to make sure he didn't miss anything. I'm so proud of the work done by the search crew and the way Ben adapted to his environment. We were all saddened by the outcome, but I'm glad we were able to bring closure to the family." - Eric Darling, Ridley Park Fire