The Special Investigations K9 Unit is a new and vital resource for our work in Uncommon Knowledge (a private investigations agency and parent of A Pup Stop). Having trained with Shatter the Darkness SIIU ministry since 1998, we are able to investigate obscure claims more effectively. Although a Forensic K9 Team is not necessarily a brand new concept, the idea of utilizing such a Team in a civilian or ministry capacity certainly is new. To accomplish our goal of a fully functional K9 Unit we must color outside the lines of traditional ministry and SAR (Search & Rescue) requirements.
Bottom Line
The bottom line is that we are not a search and rescue operation or a non-profit organization. Can we provide services to assist local LE (law enforcement) to locate a suspected murder victim? Absolutely. Do we live and train to be in ever-readiness mode for that next disaster call out? Nope. Could we assist? As long as they’re looking for dead victims, yes we could. But that is not our focus here.
Also, though we are not a non-profit registered with the federal government, we do not charge for ministry services. All costs are out of pocket from whatever I earn in my “regular” job. So, all support is welcomed and endlessly appreciated.
Let me illustrate…
Imagine, if you would, moving into a new home where you discover some rather odd drawings on the basement walls. You want to finish the basement for a family room, to be cool in the summer. You pull up the carpet and find more drawings, almost scary, on the cement floor beneath. Taken aback for a moment, you stand in the middle of the room and just then realize the walls had been painted black prior to the weird drawings. Look a bit closer. Those odd drawings actually seem like symbols of some sort. You rack your memory, thinking you’ve seen these before. Maybe in some crazy movie somewhere. As you turn around to the barren staircase, you notice remnants of chicken wire. It appears as if the space under the steps was enclosed at some point. Peering through the wood steps you are strangely horrified to see a mirror on the wall. The chill that runs through you chases you up the stairs and you slam the door shut! While you sit at your kitchen table trying to make sense of it all and, honestly, feeling a bit silly, you wonder about those stains on that carpet.
The above scenario is from an actual case. A friend of a friend moved into a house and discovered all sorts of things she did not understand in that basement. A Forensic K9 Team could have searched that entire area to determine whether those carpet stains were, in fact, old blood. Furthermore, a Forensic K9 would have sniffed out (literally) any other evidence. That could have led to a larger investigation by LE, which could have stopped the perpetrators–who we (much later) found out had used the house for macabre purposes. The property was one link of several, in a child trafficking web that performed blood rituals to further their agenda.
In that light, God only knows what else a well-trained Forensic K9 team
would have uncovered.
Searching locations suspected to be burial sites of missing children or other victims? Neighbors suspect local teens are performing blood rituals in the nearby wooded area? The possibilities are endless.
So, then what?
The above scenario is not as uncommon as one would think. At the same time, LE needs probable cause or, in the very least, reasonable suspicion to legally initiate a thorough investigation. We don’t. All we need is land-owner permission, time and support.
So thanx so much for your time, prayers and support!