State police enlist help of cadaver dogs in Andover search

By Shawn Cunningham
© 2015 Telegraph Publishing, LLC

Vermont State Police have begun using cadaver dogs in the search for Lynn Perry of Andover nine days after the 56 year old woman was reported missing by her family. Perry was the focus of a four day search last week involving more than 200 police, fire, search and rescue personnel and volunteers and including aerial searches by helicopter.

According to Troop D Commander Captain Ray Keefe, there are three dogs searching along Routes 11 and 121 as well as Middletown and the Weston/Andover Roads. “There are two of our dogs and one civilian,” said Keefe, “their effectiveness depends a lot on temperature and wind. With cool temperatures and the breeze, we thought today would be a good day to try.”

“We don’t like to give up hope,” said Keefe, “but we also have to face realities.”

“I’ve worked on a number of searches and it’s the hardest thing to deal with,” Keefe continued referring to the decision scale back the search on Friday after four days of very hot weather.

The State Police have a number of dogs who are trained for more than one job including drug sniffing, search and rescue and patrol, but cadaver dogs (like bomb dogs) are trained for one purpose only. “They don’t do anything else,” said Keefe, who noted that the dogs will be out all day today and his team would reevaluate the situation tonight.