Forensic Scent Evidence & Search Dogs

International K-9 Search and Rescue Services.
P.O.Box# 1472, Longview, Washington 98632 USA.
Office (503) 705-0258. Office: (360) 414-8093.
Web: www.k9sardog.com

Forensic Scent Evidence.

Forensic Scent Evidence is the determining through scent discriminating search dog teams, one dog, one dog handler, if a specific scent is present at a specific location. Example: If a persons remains can be positively identified through scent at a specific location, and hold the search dog handlers documentation and testimony credible in the courtroom.

Each individual here on this planet owns his or her own DNA specific to his or her person. All living matter that uses oxygen to survive has been determined to being DNA specific. This also means that each life matter holds it’s own scent as well. This includes vegetation, trees, flowers, insects and animals.

SCENT. What is scent? Scent is made up of many things. Rafts, dead skin cells that a living being loses at a rate of approximately 10,000 per minute. Oils, body fluids, produced in our bodies and absorbed in our hair fibers are just some of the basic components of scent.

There are three types of scent. Live, stress, and death.
Live scent. As you are living and breathing you give off your own specific scent. This is called live scent. A trained search dog can detect and follow this scent source from Point A to Point B. The search dog is an emotional being and will respond as such. It’s a proven fact that dogs hold the same exact emotions and feelings as we humans do. Anger, guilt, jealousy, envy, happiness, sadness, fear, and love. When the search dog smells a living human, they are happy. Humans mean love, food, and comfort. The dog’s tail is observed in the up position and wagging. The dog’s ears are up, and the dog may be barking out of happiness and certainly will show a huge smile on their face.

Stress scent. When a person is attacked or in fear of something, they will generate a chemical called epinephrine. This is a strong drug that helps us cope with stress, anger, etc. The person’s heart rate and respiratory rate increases, their reaction is called a “Fight or Flight response”. The search dog smells this as a Fear scent. The dog is observed reacting in a cautionary posture method. Tail halfway down, ears usually are up, the dog’s tail is held still and the dog may whine or bark to show that they are guarded.

Death scent. Immediately after you die, you start decomposing. You are now giving off your Death Scent. Anyone who comes in contact with your death scent can transfer your death scent onto themselves and anything they touch. One their clothes, boots, gloves, equipment used to transport your remains.
This is how I can identify murder suspects to the police. See my book, Scent Evidence, for more information on how this is done. Your death scent will stain the surfaces you come in contact with. When a search dog smells death scent, they are observed to becoming immediately emotionally upset. Their ears are down, you can see sadness in their eyes, and their tails are down and may be tucked between their legs. The search dog will usually whine and bark. They may immediately defecate and urinate to release their stress. They often will find grass to eat to settle the acids in their stomachs from them becoming upset. Some may become so upset they vomit.

TIME. How long does scent last? Search dogs have located scent and it’s source, hundreds of years old. Buried remains determined to be hundred’s of years old have been located with the use of search dog teams.

Many of us have heard some search dog trainers making statements such as,
”A search dog can’t track a specific scent after 24 hours in contaminated areas”. This is a completely false statement made by extremely uneducated persons.

Hundred’s of search dog teams have documented their success in tracking a specific scent from its origin to its source, weeks, months and even up to a year after it was performed. It’s all about the training and trust of the dog handler and his or her dog and the handlers understanding of scent.

WHAT EFFECTS SCENT?
There are many factors that effect scent.
Rain rarely affects scent. It actually helps the search dog in detecting scent. It keeps the scent moist and it livens the search dogs scent receptor cells. Rain can carry scent down hill to a creek, to a river, to an ocean. It travels within and on top of the water. It can be carried for hundreds of miles.

Heat is a harsh factor as it dries out the search dog’s scent receptor cells and the scent itself can be baked. This makes the scent more susceptible to flaking and the weather elements. With heat are weather conditions called THERMOS. This is a rise of a mass of air molecules from a lower point to a higher point. When it’s extremely hot, the scent will rise with the air mass through thermos and evaporation.

Cold. Extreme cold minus 32 degrees F. can freeze scent. Once thawed, the search dogs have no trouble determining specific scents. While frozen, scent is contained within a specific area and the dog team must be right over the containment area before the dog can detect it. (Example- Avalanche or cold water drowning victims). When the temp. Is extremely cold it will contain or lower the scent from its origin. Thus scent becomes heavy and stays down low to its origin.

Wind can blow the scent all over the place and thus confuse the dog handler. The dog has been able to pick up a scent and follow scent to its source up to forty miles away. Meaning if you place one single drop of scent on a 2-story windowsill. The wind can blow a detectible scent to a search dog down wind.
Photo. Ranger watching as Harry recovers human remains of Dela Carlson. Ranger located remains in Coyote Poop in Clatsop County, Ore.

CONTAMINATION:
Cigarette Smoke:
Smokers are warned. When a person knowingly and willingly absorbs toxins into their system through the burning smoke of nicotine, (Cigars, pipes, cigarettes) the nicotine gives off several known cancer causing poisons, which you are putting into your body and every one else’s around you who happens to breathe in the smoke. Nicotine is a poison.

So not only are you polluting and contaminating your scent, but when the poison hits the air as second hand smoke, everything and everyone who comes in contact with this poison is affected. Now knowingly and willfully putting this poison into your body is what many people call stupid. Anyway, plants, animals, pets, children, all succumb to one persons drug addiction and poison. (That’s where the stupidity comes in).
Yes you do have the right to smoke and kill yourself. But you don’t have the right to force others to slowly be poisoned by your drug addiction. Parents never smoke in the same living space, vehicle, or breathing space of your two and four legged (pets) kids. That’s child and animal abuse.

Anyway, cigarette poisoning absorbs the scent and the user now gives off their own specific scent. The scent is now masked by nicotine. Which is an numbing agent like cocaine, lidocaine, etc. This can actually numb up the search dog’s nose and throw the search dogs scent receptor cells off, on top of the contamination of the scent already present from the wind, rain, heat, cold, other scents in the area. This has at times in some searches, made the search dogs nose almost useless.

Can we track people who smoke? Yes of course, but the search dog must overcome more challenges then tracking a non-smoker. Exposure to Nicotine has often hurt the ability of dog handlers and their search dogs to bring success to a specific mission.

Does camp fire smoke hurt the search dog abilities? No, it doesn’t contain the poison Nicotine in it.

(NOTE). I just recently returned from a search for a missing 21 year old in Sacramento, Ca. My search dog kept alerting along a specific route but I failed to find any clues (Footprints etc) that would support my search dog’s track. When I talked with the family, I later found that their missing son drove this route every day for a year.

And to make the search more difficult, all of the family’s volunteer searchers (friends and family members) had been in the missing persons room repeatedly during their ongoing search. Also some of the searchers had worn some of his (the missing persons) clothing during their search. (For the emotional attachment). This gave my search dog a false scent trail. So if your search dog tracks a specific direction, look for supporting clues and ask questions. Why is my dog tracking, trailing this direction?

Scent Discrimination.
How is a search dog trained to tell the differences between scents?
This training is called scent discrimination training. After the search dog is trained for agility, obedience and basics in air scenting, tracking, trailing, live and cadaver work, the dog is then trained in SD. (scent discrimination).

We take ten paper sacks containing 10 different collections of human hair. One person’s collection of hair in each paper sack. We place the bags apart at 6-foot intervals. This is like a suspect line up search.

We number the bags from # 1 to # 10. We then take a sample of hair from one of the bags.

Example. (DH) Dog handler takes a sample of human hair from bag#6. Introduces this scent to his / her search dog and gives the bag (Victim) a name. Search dog Valorie this is Rick. Then the DH gives his / her (SD) Search dog the work command. “Go Find Rick”.

The DH takes his / her SD along the bags (victims) and has his / her dog examine each bag. When the dog comes to the bag from which the DH took the hair sample from, the DH shows the SH the hair and again reinforces the scent. When the dog alerts that he / she has found the scent coming from a specific bag, in this case bag# 6, the DH has his / her search dog sit next to the bag and bark. To indicate to the DH that the search dog has identified the victim (bag) and made a find.

Then the DH gives his / her search dog a huge reward of love, hugs, and kisses. When the search dog can perform this task 10 out of 10 times correctly, they (the dog handler and search dog team) have passed their test of scent discrimination and is now certified as such. They are retested twice a year. Each time the trainer, tester, DH tests the search dog, they change the victim (bag) and the hair so the search dog isn’t going to the same bag each time. The search dog must show the DH correctly which sample came from which bag.

Understanding Scent.
When a person or animal travels from point A to point B, they drop approximately 10,000 pieces of scent per minute. This again is detectible years later depending on the elements, wind, rain, heat, and contamination.

When I testify in court cases, I put a color to scent so that the jurors, layperson, attorneys and judges can see it so to speak. I explain it this way. “Let’s say you yourself are dropping scent and it looks like yellow chalk. You are now dropping 10,000 pieces of yellow chalk (scent) per minute from point A to point B.

The scent is eventually carried all over the route by wind, rain, heat, and contamination. People, animals, traveling over the top of it with their scents and transporting their scents and the specific scent (Yellow chalk) in their own specific direction.

A search dog can detect one-one trillionth of a scent particle. A particle so minute you cannot even see it. So even though you are dropping 10,000 pieces per minute, the dog only needs a mere particle of what is left after the rain, heat, wind, cold, contamination gets through with it, for the search dog to follow the trail.

A search dog can track this (visualize yellow chalk) scent from point A to point B
As it is trained to do. Here is what confuses many search dog handlers from their completion of a mission.

Subject A goes for a walk in the forest. From the trailhead where he parked his car, (point 1). Subject A walks two miles down the forest trail to Fish lake. (Point 2). Subject A accidentally slips into the water and drowns.

The ideal search would be that a family member reports Subject A is missing to their law enforcement agency. The law enforcement officer responds to the parking lot, (point A) and finds the victim’s (Subject A)’s car. The law enforcement official doesn’t get near the car and activates a trained, tested K-9 search and rescue team. Thus there’s no contamination of the area. The official calls in a search dog scent discriminating tracking team and tracks Subject A from point 1 to his final resting place point 2.

This of course is pure fantasy because here’s what really happens. Subject A has left his scent trail. The family usually finds out that subject A is over due then they drive to the P.L.S. (Point Last Seen) and find his car. The family goes inside of the missing persons vehicle with their spare key, look around for evidence and walk all over the scene, thus contaminating their scent on top of Subject A’s scent. Then they walk around and look for subject A. Now we have Sub. A’s scent, but we also have to deal with Subject B, C, and D.

Then after a few hours, or days of searching and failing to find Subject A. Sub. B calls 9-1-1 and gets a law enforcement official to respond. The officer, we will call him Subject E, gets inside the vehicle searching for clues, evidence, and the victim Sub. A. Subject E can’t find Sub. A, so he calls in his search and rescue teams.
20 volunteer searcher teams come in to the area, and search for two days and can’t find Sub. A and give up their search efforts.

Now the area is so contaminated, I call it a horrific act against the original scent trail. It’s now diluted with 20 other individual scents and false trails. The subjects A scent being carried on the bottom or top of subjects B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O etc feet all over the search area. Instead of seeing just the yellow chalk, now you are visualizing every spectrum of color and mixtures there of in the rainbow.

Combine this with the winds, rain, heat, and animals, instead of one scent now there are hundred’s of scents for the search dog to filter through.

HUMAN REMAINS.
When a person dies, they immediately start decomposing. This is nature’s way of returning to the earth what originates from the earth. You quite bluntly are a source of minerals, and protein to insects, bacteria, and all meat-eating predators. Beetles, flies, worms, other humans, wolves, coyotes, raccoons, rats, possums, hawks, eagles, owls, bears, cougars, cats, dogs, and every other animal that eats meat may knowingly or unknowingly consume parts of you.

As your body fluids leave your skin and gets absorbed into the ground around you, the ground acts like a sponge and can hold your scent for hundreds of years. Even after death you still will own your own specific scent. Rainwater can filter through your remains and drag your scent down hill.

In the hundreds of recoveries I’ve been involved in over the years, the last remains that belong to you that decompose slowly are your teeth, hair and bones.

Predators and processed SCENT EVIDENCE.
On land, all meat eating animals, birds, and insects will consume parts of you when you die in exposes in the elements. In salt water, all fish, lobsters, crabs, sharks, alligators, and crocodiles. In fresh water sources all fish, crayfish, rats, and other meat eating critters may help in consuming parts of your remains.

Now here for the searcher is where it becomes interesting. As we eat, we eventually digest what we eat and discard it as urine and feces. So do all other living creatures. When they consume parts of you after you’ve died, they discard your now processed body parts in their feces, your scent hasn’t changed.

So when the animal defecates your eaten remains, your remains in the defecation still smell just of you and will hold your scent.

Thus we’ve found hundred’s of victims processed in coyote and other animal feces on the trail.
This is why we are successful often when other teams have failed.

Many search teams look for the whole victim. We never do. We look for the processed remains of the victim. Should we find the person alive, which has happened on occasion, then all is well. More often then not, we find what’s left of the victim in animal feces. Nature taking care of Nature. This at least brings closure to the family. By watching our search dog’s reaction to what they are smelling on the trail, in fecal matter discarded by the local wildlife we can tell what has happened to the victim. We can also determine their approximate position from the fecal matter located by what breed of animal deposited it.

Our search dog findings of human or missing pet remains in animal feces has been confirmed hundred’s of times. Hair, clothing, fingernails, bone fragments, and specific muscle, fat, and other body parts have been located in fecal matter of predatory animals by our search dog teams.

Presumptive death certificates and search warrants have been written on behalf of the missing person based on our search dog teams findings. This helps the detectives and or the families put closure to their cases.

To learn more about the training of the search dog handler and the search dog for scent discrimination and cadaver work, read Harry’s book, Scent Evidence.

Author: Mr. Harry E. Oakes Jr. International K-9 Instructor, expert on scent, scent evidence, search dogs, search dog handlers, and presenting evidence in the courtroom.

Background. It’s important to establish credibility when writing of a specific type of work. With 10 years in law enforcement and 26 years of emergency medicine background, combined with overall experience of 32 years in search and rescue, my background has been challenged and successfully stood the test of time since 1986.

Harry has documented more successful search and rescue calls then any other search and rescue dog handler and instructor in the world. Documenting over 5,884 search and rescue calls around the world. Harry’s documentation has been carefully reviewed, audited, and verified by both the Federal Bureau of Investigation who has used Harry and his search dogs successfully all over the world. The Oregon Dept. Of Justice helped Harry establish the for profit International K-9 Search and Rescue Services.

Harry’s reports of his searches, the search dog training, testing, and their findings in the field on real searches have been accepted in to the courtrooms throughout the world. Harry has been classified as an Expert witness in the court systems regarding scent, scent evidence and search dog handler and search dog trainer.

Other manuals written or co-written by Harry.
Author of: Be Safe Help Us Find You Coloring Book. A safety book for children and their parents to assist in keeping kids educated in the outdoors and survival.

Author: “Ranger’s Story - A Call to duty”. Story about Ranger, his training, his missions around the world with Harry. Some happy stories of success and some very sad stories of success.

Author: Scent Evidence.
List hundreds of cases, which Harry has worked all over the world. Locating the missing both live and dead. Earthquakes, floods, fires, hurricanes, transportation accidents, kidnappings, suicides, drowning, murders, natural deaths, finding human remains in the wilderness, rural, mountains, and urban settings. And how to prove specific evidence in the courtroom through scent and search dogs.

Written to educate police officers, detectives, investigators, dog handlers, dog trainers, District Attorneys and Defense Attorneys on scent as evidence. How to train the dog and handler, how to test the dog and handler. How to acknowledge a true finding of scent and use it as evidence in the field of search and rescue.

Co-Author: Valorie’s Valor. Story about how Harry rescued his search dog from the dog pound trained her and used her to find victims of the Oklahoma City Bombing Disaster in 1995.

Harry been hired to teach his system to teams in Turkey, Sweden, Japan, South America, Canada, Mexico, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Germany, Austria, United Kingdom, USA. Harry developed the first all African American and first disaster search dog teams in the US Virgin Islands.

Harry was the only American instructor hired by the Turkish Government after the 1999 Earthquakes to return to Turkey and train 10 elite K-9 teams in Urban K-9 Search and Rescue. (USAR) for disaster SAR work.

Harry has helped train over 3400 search and rescue dog handler’s, their dogs, and teams in general about K-9 SAR work.

Harry was one of several search dog experts asked to assist FEMA and NASAR in the 1980’s in developing their search and rescue standards. NATO contacted Harry to help NATO develop their Disaster response plans for Urban Search and Rescue.

Harry currently lectures around the world to Police Academies, schools, and businesses and to the public and private sector on search dogs, scent, forensic scent evidence and survival.

Mr. Harry E. Oakes Jr.

Forensic Scent Evidence Expert.
Photo of Harry and Valorie and Michelle and Rusty after locating a dead child that the Sheriff’s office and State Cert. SAR Dog teams failed to find in their four day search.
It took Harry and Val just 20 minutes to locate the child’s body.

For more information view our web at www.k9sardog.com

International K-9 Search and Rescue Services is a professional K-9 Search and Rescue Team based out of Longview, Wa. We are the most successful search dog team in the USA.

Disasters: We've assisted in finding missing persons in the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing Disaster, the Armenia and 1990 Philippine Earthquakes, both of the 1999 Turkey Earthquakes, The San Fran, and Northridge Ca. earthquakes and hurricane Mitch in Honduras in 1998. The Pacific NW Floods. I also provided consulting services to NY during 9-11 disaster.

www.Ifsao.org view our work in Honduras.

www.k9sardog.com



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