On September 18, 2023, at 7:20pm 1 District (St. Catharines / Thorold) uniform officers from the Niagara Regional Police Service (NRPS) responded to a report of a missing person in the City of St. Catharines.
Officers attended to a residence on Lake Street north of Lakeshore Road. The initial investigation determined that a man in his 70s had left a family residence earlier in the afternoon on foot. When the man did not return his family became concerned for his safety.
Uniform officers and a NRPS K9 Unit were called in to search for the man. NRPS K9 Unit Constable Tim Wiley and Police Service Dog (PSD) Rudy conducted a missing person track from the house. They were drawn to a pathway that led down into a ravine towards the water’s edge (Lake Ontario). Cst. Wiley looked down the pathway but did not see anything. As Cst. Wiley was about to continue to look elsewhere, PSD Rudy indicated that he wanted to go further down the pathway. Cst. Wiley, trusting his partner’s nose investigated further, locating the man who had been laying at the bottom of the ravine for nearly four hours.
Due to the incline on the pathway, St. Catharine’s Fire Service was required to attend to rescue the man. Having been out in the rain and wind for such a length of time, the man was transported to a local hospital by paramedics from Niagara Emergency Medical Service for further assessment and treatment.
PSD Rudy is a 4-year-old German Shepard from Canada. He is crossed trained in patrol duties and narcotics detection.
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