“K-9 Stella” is a three-year-old Bloodhound working for the Tallahassee Police Department Special Victims Unit as a Scent Evidence K-9 with her handler, Paul Coley, CEO of Scent Evidence K-9 and former FBI Forensic Canine Operations Specialist. Stella and Coley have been working cases for their department as well as several federal, state, and local agencies for the past two years.
Along with her handler, Stella has worked multiple missing persons cases involving people affected with Alzheimer’s or Dementia wandering off. Stella has an impressive record of confirmed trails leading to the recovery of missing persons in the Florida panhandle. In addition to her work bringing missing persons home, Stella is an essential resource for the Tallahassee Police Department Special Victims Unit, assisting with several criminal apprehensions and is even credited with the apprehension of two double homicide suspects.
When Stella is not busy reuniting missing persons with their families, she is often alongside Coley, traveling throughout Florida to educate communities on how her nose can help responders locate people, should they go missing. They discuss how to protect people with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia (ADRD) who are at high risk of wandering. Stella also recently participated in Coley’s “On the Trail for the Cure” fundraiser campaign for the Alzheimer’s Association’s The Longest Day event.
Stella is an important resource for her Police department and her community and will continue her mission to create safer communities as part of the Bringing The Lost Home Project, a bill that was recently passed by Florida legislators to enhance missing person response capabilities in law enforcement, particularly with Florida’s large elderly population with Alzheimer’s.
Congratulations to Stella and kudos to all the contestants.
Until next time,
Good day, and good dog!