By Kevin Mack
Chicago Sun Times
CHICAGO — Some heroes receive medals or parades, but Tuesday’s heroine prefers something a bit more tasty:
Doggie treats.
Melanie, a 1 1/2-year-old bloodhound and member of the Cook County Sheriff’s Department canine unit, earned a few more treats Tuesday morning after locating an 88-year-old woman reported missing from a Hoffman Estates nursing home.
Melanie and her handler, Sheriff’s Police Officer Jim Pacetti, arrived at the Brighton Gardens Assisted Living Center at 1 a.m. Tuesday after a fruitless search of the premises by other police officers.
After she was presented with an article of the woman’s clothing, Melanie sniffed out the woman within three hours. The missing resident, who suffers from dementia, was found unharmed in an unoccupied room.
Man was in riverbed
“Melanie is acquiring quite a reputation,” said Steve Patterson, a sheriff’s spokesman. “With her good success rate several departments call our unit specifically for her.”
On Jan. 25, Melanie tracked a suicidal man in a southwest suburban forest preserve.
After authorities searched for hours, Melanie located the man within 30 minutes using a pillowcase’s scent. The semi-conscious man, found submerged in a riverbed, soon would have died amid five-degree temperatures, Patterson said.
Copyright 2009 Chicago Sun Times