K9 Valor joins Osceola County Sheriff’s Office to aid missing person searches

The Senior Resource Alliance donated K9 Valor, a trained bloodhound, to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday to assist in locating missing persons, particularly individuals with dementia and developmental disabilities such as autism.The dog is paired with Deputy Luis Paredes-Labrador and is joining him on duty this month.The donation is part of the Bringing the Lost Home project, which Senior Resource Alliance launched in 2021 in partnership with Scent Evidence K9 and the U.S. Department of Justice.Through the initiative, the nonprofit organization has donated 11 bloodhounds to local law enforcement agencies, helping locate more than 120 missing people.Prior to joining the agency, Valor completed extensive training with Scent Evidence K9. Along with the bloodhound, Senior Resource Alliance provided scent kits for the Sheriff’s Office to distribute to local residents. The packages can store a person’s unique scent for up to a decade to accelerate search efforts during emergenc