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Missing Bloodhound Reunited With Handler After 25-Hour Search

Gunner, a working bloodhound who went missing in Blacksburg, South Carolina, was found and reunited with his handler on Thursday, December 8, according to the York County Sheriff’s Office.

The dog was lost after he “jerked away from his handler” during a K-9 training session in a South Carolina state park on Wednesday, police said.

Officials searched the area for 25 hours until Gunner was found on Thursday afternoon.

Video posted by the York County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday shows the joyous reunion upon Gunner’s return.

Police reported that the bloodhound was “cold, wet, and thirsty but in good health.” Credit: York County Sheriff’s Office via Storyful

Video transcript

- Go get him.

- Gunner!

[CLAPS]

What are you doing?

[LAUGHTER]

Look at you.

[APPLAUSE]

Look at you, huh?

- That is so awesome.

- Oh, I'm tired and--

[LAUGHTER]

[INAUDIBLE]

- You found your man!

- Yes. That's awesome.

- Look, I'm sorry, Dad!

- Thank you, everybody, for what y'all done.

- Oh, yeah.

- Everybody. I appreciate it.

- What is it? I know.

- Looked all last night-- Up this morning. It was 5:30, and I-- out the door. Looking and riding everywhere, hollering his name through-- Well, I can't hardly even talk, now.

- How long have you been working with him for?

- He is three years old. I've had him for the last year. The other handler went to a different agency. And I took him over. And I've got another hound at the house, that is 9 years old. So he's taking her place with our agency. So, well, you know, we've got a lot of time and effort in him. And he's had several finds this year. I think he's got about 35, 36 call outs. But there's nothing-- nothing a whole lot I can say right now. Just I appreciate everything that everybody did.

- You take care.

- We looked to the left, and we saw the dog come directly out of the woods. But it looks like the lead was really long. So we we're like, hey, that lead is attached to that truck. As he came to sit next to the truck, he's near a horse trailer. Me and McClares like, hey, that-- Somebody has left their dog right there.

And then he came round and the lead came loose. And we were like, oh, god. We got to help make sure we put this dog back on this truck because we thought he was attached to it. Because he was just sitting in their truck, and running back and forth. And actually he came off and McClare was like, hey, let me put dog-- So she gets down, and she grabs this dog. She says, I'm not letting this dog go.

[LAUGHTER]

That's how she did it. And so I was like, oh, what's this dog's name? It was like, it said Gunner. We was just like, oh, god. That's it, ain't it?

- That's it.

- So I was like-- So that's when we notified like the captains, and everybody else. Like, hey, that's-- pretty sure, this is that dog, but-- It was all that girl. He looked at me, he's like, nah. He looked at her, he's like, yeah, I'll go to her.

- Good choice.

- He didn't put up too much a fight--

- No.

- --trying to run away?

- No.

- He looked at me, he was like, I'm not going to you, dude. And then she came down, he's like, yeah, I'll go to her. He's just like pranced right on to her, and hugged on her. As you can see.

- Was this after-- I know, you're still-- he's all over you. Was this after a full day of searching, too? Were you guys out all day?

- Oh, no. They have been out--

- We just showed

- We just got here like an hour ago, maybe.

- But there has been a 25 hour search.

- Yeah. He'd been missing right at 25 hours.

- You know, they were saying, hey, we need extra hands, and we came out of the office. And then, that was it.