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> Bureaus and Divisions > Bureau of Warden Service > Special Teams, Operations, and Services > K-9 Team
History of the Maine Warden Service K-9 UnitDuring 1978, Game Warden Sergeant William Allen (now Lieutenant Allen) and Warden Specialist Deborah Palman researched training police K-9s to assist wardens in conservation law enforcement. Both acquired male German Shepherds they had purchased themselves to train for this purpose. Sergeant Allen trained with Jerry Sukeforth of Sukee Kennels in Warren, Maine, while Specialist Palman trained with Police Officer George Leighton of Brewer PD. After training and using their K-9s Satan and Raven for a year, in 1980 the wardens asked the Warden Service administration for official recognition of what they were doing. Since the dogs had proven useful, the administration allowed them to train on work time and provided some financial help with expenses. In their first year, the dogs located four wanted suspects, several batches of illegal deer and moose meat and two illegally killed deer. The Warden Service K-9 Unit was officially established in 1980. During 1982, Warden William Hanrahan and K-9 Trampas (a male Doberman) and Warden James Ross and K-9 Caesar (a male German Shepherd) joined the Unit. Warden Hanrahan and Trampas had many successful finds of evidence and suspects and saved several lives at search and rescue incidents before Trampas retired in 1986 after a spinal injury. Warden Ross worked with K-9 Caesar until 1983 when he decided that his district was too busy for him to take the time to maintain a K-9. He retired Caesar in 1983, and, shortly after the retirement, a suspect Warden Ross had arrested the previous fall assaulted Caesar while the dog was tied outside at the Ross home. The injury was so severe that Caesar never recovered and eventually had to be euthanized. Sergeant Allen worked Satan until 1983 when he transferred ownership of Satan to a sheriff's deputy who continued to work Satan successfully. Specialist Palman became head of the K-9 Unit after Sergeant Allen gave up the post. Specialist Palman and Warden Hanrahan continued as the department's two patrol K-9 teams. In 1983, Warden Dave Priest acquired a donated male German Shepherd named Stryker that was trained in air scent search and rescue work at Sukee Kennels. Unfortunately, this dog and program did not work out and Stryker was retired in 1986. After Warden Harahan retired Trampas, he bought and trained Major, a male German Shepherd. Specialist Palman retired Raven in 1988 after buying and training K-9 Rica, a female German Shepherd. Both new K-9 teams had numerous successful deployments, saving lives, finding essential evidence and tracking and locating suspects. During November of 1992, while returning to his truck after attempting to track an inebriated hunter with Major, Warden Hanrahan died in the line of duty of a massive heart attack. During 1994, the K-9 Unit enjoyed increased support from the administration and Warden Dan Menard and Gillie, Warden Roger Guay and Reba and Warden Wayde Carter and Miranda were officially certified by the Maine Criminal Justice Academy in tracking, obedience and evidence recovery. Reba had an additional specialty of fish detection that other teams began to train in as time went on. During 1995, Warden John Blagdon and K-9 Ice (a male chocolate Lab) and Warden Michelle Belanger and Pistol (a male Malinois) joined the Unit. Specialist Palman also started training a new female German Shepherd named Anna to eventually replace Rica. Warden Carter's Miranda was becoming increasing lame due to hip dysplasia, so he started training Arrik, a male German Shepherd, during 1996. All of these teams gained certifications during 1995 or 1996 in obedience and scent related areas. During 1997, K-9 Rica and K-9 Miranda were retired. Warden Michelle Fleury and K-9 Hanna, a female Rottwieler and Warden Dan Scott and K-9 Baker, a male bloodhound cross, joined the unit and certified during 1998. Both of these teams were certified in search and rescue by the Maine Search and Rescue Dogs (MESARD) before Warden Fleury and Warden Scott were hired by Warden Service. Warden Mark Merrifield and K-9 Aspen, a female Golden Retriever, Warden Shannon Fish and K-9 Draga, a female German Shepherd, also joined and certified during 1998. On a sad note, K-9 Arrik was killed by a car in front of Warden Carter's home in Wesley on Route 9 during 1998. Undaunted, Warden Carter began his search for a new dog within a few months, and, after a false start or two, purchased a young male German Shepherd named Buddy from Sukee Kennels in Warren. Sergeant Guay, seeing that Reba was not going to last forever, started training her son, Raider, and they also certified during 1998. During 1998, Warden Kevin Anderson and K-9 Bullet, a male German Shepherd, and Warden Tom Jacobs and K-9 Duchess, a female black Labrador, joined the team and were certified by the MCJA. During 1998 and 1999, the administration began to tighten up its policies on K-9 use and training. The Fair Labor Standards Act applies to K-9 training and care time, so the administration realized that they couldn't incur the possible expenses of paying an unlimited number of dog handlers. The administration now only allowed qualified wardens to join the unit as operational needs required. New prospective handlers were subjected to a careful screening process. They also realized that K-9 handlers who were promoted often could not keep up with their K-9 duties in addition to their new supervisory duties. Sergeant John Blagdon had already come to this conclusion and graciously stepped down from the Unit to allow the talented team of Warden Mark Merrifield and Aspen to continue their good work as official members of the Unit. Warden Shannon Fish moved from southern Maine where they were the only K-9 team in the area to Hancock County where a number of teams already worked, so he was dropped from the K-9 Unit. Warden Ron Dunham and K-9 Grace, the Service's first "rescue" dog donated by the German Shepherd Rescue of New England, joined the Unit in 2001. Grace, a female German Shepherd, is a true "workaholic" and a good choice even though she was a little old (three years) when starting training. Not to be left behind when Anna was retired, Specialist Palman also started training a young male German Shepherd, Alex, to eventually replace Anna. Alex was certified in all the patrol functions during 2002. Also during 2002, Warden Brian Tripp and Marley, a male black Labrador, achieved their first certifications. This teams works in the busy southwest part of Maine and receives many calls for service. At the end of 2003, due to his age, K-9 Baker had to be euthanized by his handler, Warden Dan Scott, although he worked right up until a day before he passed on. Warden Dan Scott has purchased a female Labrador puppy named Roxie to replace Baker. In 1981, after Warden Service took over inland search and rescue (SAR), more interest in air scent search and rescue dogs arose. After the massive search for George Wescott near Greenville and the use of volunteer air scent search and rescue dogs from out of state (American Rescue Dog Association teams), Warden Service decided to support the training of air scent SAR dog teams. During 1984, with the support of a new administration, Specialist Palman assisted the establishment of the Maine Search and Rescue Dogs (MESARD), a volunteer unit that assisted Warden Service at search and rescue scenes. Maine Search and Rescue Dogs has a web site at www.mesard.org. Warden Service K-9s still serve as tracking and first response dogs at searches, but the air scent SAR teams are called by Warden Service to search large areas of ground if the lost person is not located by the first searchers to respond. Specialist Palman served as Training Director for MESARD and certified her K-9s in air scent SAR as well as the traditional law enforcement functions. A new certification category of air scent "hasty" search has been added to the Warden Service K-9 requirements, allowing the Warden Service teams to do more effective preliminary searches for lost persons if tracking deployments prove unsuccessful. The combination of a dog trained to find people with the sign reading and visual tracking ability of experienced wardens creates an ideal resource for first response to search and rescue incidents. Combining his ability to read outdoor sign with a dog that showed interest in cadaver scent, Sergeant Guay branched out into training for cadaver searches and began to successfully assist the State Police Criminal Investigative Division (CID) in the location of homicide victims. Over the years, the work of Sergeant Guay and other wardens in reading outdoor sign have been a great assistance at crime scenes, so State Police Detectives have increasingly requested wardens and Warden K-9 teams more and more in their searches of outdoor crime scenes. More of the Warden Service teams have taken up cadaver search as a specialty detection category. This helps to "cover the bases" at search and rescue scenes in case the victim is deceased and allows Warden K-9 teams to assist State Police CID in searches for homicide victims. The Warden cadaver dog teams frequently train with Dr. Ed David, who is a cadaver dog handler and medical examiner for the state. Dr. David specializes in searching contained scenes were a "pure" cadaver dog is needed and requests Warden Service and MESARD cadaver dog teams to assist when large wooded or wild areas need to be searched. Often the Warden Service Incident Command team assists at these searches by providing mapping, planning and logistical help. In summary, over the years the use of police K-9s by Warden Service has expanded and evolved. Starting with traditional "patrol" trained dogs in the 1980s, Warden Service teams have put less emphasis on criminal apprehension work and more on specialty scent work that relates to search and rescue and conservation law enforcement. There is no doubt that their success in finding search and rescue victims and cutting many potentially long and expensive searches short has a great deal to do with their continued support by the Warden Service administration. They have proved again and again that trained dogs can locate people and evidence and solve cases and problems that wardens without dogs cannot. Miramichi in 2003
One of the most remarkable searches that Warden Service K-9s participated in was the search for Maria Tanasichuk in Miramichi during the spring of 2003. On January 26, 2003, David Tanasichuk of Miramichi, New Brunswick, Canada, reported his wife, Maria Tanasichuk, missing since January 12, 2003. Subsequent investigation by Miramichi police detectives revealed that Maria was last seen by a neighbor at the Tanasichuk home on January 15, and David had pawned her jewelry on January 16. Interviews with people in the neighborhood also revealed that about that time David was seen making numerous late night trips through town on his ATV in the direction of the main ATV and snowmobile trail that ran from town. David’s only personal means of transportation was his ATV. Interviews with friends of Maria also revealed that David was a suspect in two other murders, one being Maria’s brother who had been missing since 1999. Maria’s friends felt that David had killed Maria. The police were very familiar with David. The family lived in the same neighborhood as the police station where the detectives worked. David had been previously convicted of assault, possession of stolen property, theft, several times for breaking and entering, possession of an unregistered and restricted weapon, escape, fraud and assault on a police officer. He had brought further attention to himself by plotting to kill a judge, prosecutor and police officers. Although a felon and therefore prohibited from owning firearms, he was known to have numerous guns stashed in the woods surrounding town, hidden in PVC tubes and folded tarps. He poached numerous deer, bear and an occasional moose each year. He was a substance abuser and grew marijuana in the woods off the ATV trails. In the past, fear of David kept friends, family and neighbors from revealing information to the police, but now friends of Maria revealed much of what they knew to the detectives. The Miramichi detectives, headed by Sgt. Paul Fiander, believed that David had hidden his wife’s body in the woods off one of the many ATV trails. Although snow depth allowed ATV travel the week she was last seen, by the time she was reported missing, heavy snows fell and eventually four feet of snow lay in the woods surrounding town. The detectives put David under surveillance as soon as they realized he was a suspect. This included posting an officer on top of a feed silo that overlooked the main ATV trail in minus 20 degree weather and other extraordinary actions. Through this surveillance and the turning of a key informant who was David’s only access to motor vehicle transportation, they learned that David planned to harm one of the detectives who had a primary role in the investigation. This detective had become friends with Maria in the past when he investigated the death of her son in an unfortunate brawl. This particular detective walked every step with Sgt. Roger Guay and his K-9 over the six days of searching. Most police officers quit after a half day of trying to follow Warden Service K-9 teams through the woods. The investigation became very personal for the detectives. They felt compelled to install alarm systems in their homes and to have their wives carry personal alarms with them at all times because of threats David was making. David had numerous tattoos on his body. One at the base of his neck is in Russian and translates as “Death Dealer.” He has four tear drops to the side of one eye, apparently following a Russian tradition of one drop for every person he has killed. He had a Satanic “shrine” in his basement. When attending counseling sessions for his drug abuse, he told social workers that drugs were the only thing that allowed him to control his “homicidal urges.” During February, knowing that he was being followed, David enlisted the help of his friend with a vehicle and was let off numerous times to take long midnight and early morning hikes through the snow filled woods. Later on it was learned that these were diversionary trips. The detectives feared he would move or try to dispose of his wife’s body before it could be found. In an innovative move, Sgt. Fiander began to investigate ways to try to locate the body that winter. Several searches with SAR ground personnel were done during the winter, but they located nothing of value. Atlantic Canada has no dogs trained to detect cadaver scent, and they have no air scent search and rescue dogs. Sgt. Fiander contacted Andy Rebmann, retired from the Connecticut State Police and an internationally known authority on cadaver detection dogs. Andy Rebmann suggested that Sgt. Fiander contact the Maine Search and Rescue Dogs (MESARD), a volunteer search and rescue dog unit whose members had trained with Andy in the past. MESARD is a unique resource. Started in 1984 with the assistance of the Maine Warden Service and with Spec. Deborah Palman of Warden Service as Training Director, MESARD has trained numerous civilian teams in air scent search and rescue (SAR) work. As the air scent dogs proved their worth in finding people in the woods and waters of Maine, the Maine Warden Service made them one of their primary resources deployed at searches for lost and missing persons. Over the years, MESARD encountered a number of lost people who were deceased and began to investigate the use of cadaver training to ensure that the dogs would find deceased persons as reliably as they found live persons. In 1991, MESARD sponsored a national training seminar for SAR dogs and invited Andy Rebmann to instruct in the training of cadaver dogs. Several of the teams subsequently attended training with Andy in Conneticut and became proficient at the location of cadaver scent. From that time on, MESARD teams included various amounts of cadaver training in their work and some teams became proficient at finding even small scent sources. At the same time, five Warden Service teams, including Sgt. Roger Guay and Spec. Deborah Palman, began training in cadaver detection. Sgt. Roger Guay and his K-9, Reba, became a valued resource for the Maine State Police CID and were able to locate several bodies that had been missing and buried for some time. In 1983, the Maine Warden Service was made legally responsible for search and rescue in the inland woods and waters of Maine. Maine Wardens attended extensive training sponsored by the National Association of Search and Rescue, the Air Force and other SAR authorities. They formed the Maine Warden Incident Command Team to run searches and other incidents. Over time, Maine became recognized as a state with one of the best SAR organizations in the US. The Maine search organization located hundreds of lost persons over the years. Some of these turned out to be missing because they were victims of homicides. In the last few years, members of the Command Team attended training on locating homicide victims. Using this training and Maine SAR resources, the Command Team was successful in locating the buried body of a woman who was missing in connection with a highly publicized case in the Portland area during 2001. The suspect in this case was convicted of homicide. With this new use of the Maine SAR organization, MESARD recognized the need for a new function for air scent SAR dogs. They developed a standard for cadaver detection and trained to meet the standard. Because the SAR air scent team is already qualified to search large undeveloped or wilderness areas for live victims, adding the cadaver specialty created a unique resource that could efficiently and effectively cover large areas for unburied or freshly buried remains. When Sgt. Fiander contacted MESARD, the leaders of MESARD recognized that a search for Maria would not be successful without careful planning and organization. They contacted Lt.. Pat Dorian of the Maine Warden Incident Command Team. They also consulted with Andy Rebmann and all agreed that, if possible, the search should wait until the over four feet of snow melted and temperatures warmed above freezing. In the meantime, due to their diligent surveillance and hard work, the detectives had a tremendous break in the case when they were able to arrest David as he rode in the trunk of a car driven by an accomplice, apparently on his way to do harm to someone. With David in the trunk was a sawed off shotgun and restraints that might have been part of an “assassination kit.” This arrest allowed David to be put in jail for at least several years and prevented him from moving his wife’s body. After contacting Paul Fiander, Lt. Dorian organized a mission to search in Miramichi. Somehow, in spite of severe budgets cuts in Maine, Lt. Dorian convinced the administration to send wardens to Canada to do the search. Maine did have a need to repay New Brunswick for the ground search units they sent to Maine during several long and arduous searches that took place in northern Maine from 1999 to 2002. Although a Lieutenant when he started the search, by June 1, Dorian’s Lieutenant’s position was cut due to budget problems and he continued on as a Sergeant. The first search mission took place on May 15, 16, 17 and 18. Sgt. Roger Guay and Spec. Deborah Palman both participated with two dogs each. Six civilian volunteer teams from MESARD consisting of Keith Heavrin, Chip Wadsworth, Jennifer Fisk, Kate Fleury, Spencer Fuller and Michele Fleury traveled to New Brunswick at their own expense. Miramichi PD provided rooms and meals. Warden Kevin Adam, the SAR planning chief, planned the mission and kept track of progress on his computer mapping program with maps supplied by the NB natural resources agency. Although the teams managed to arrive early enough in the summer to miss the biting insects, they also experienced woods and trails that were severely flooded by heavy spring rains and the first hot and calm days of the year. Since air scent teams rely on wind to make scent available, calm days are not an advantage. There was also snow still present in the deep woods, leading to speculation about whether or not the body might still be frozen. Waiting too long into the spring to search would mean that bears and other scavengers might find the body and destroy it. Based on extensive information provided by the detectives and training in locating homicide victims, Lt.. Dorian and Warden Adam mapped out high probability areas and gave out assignments for four days. By the end of four days, nothing significant was found and the teams and detectives were discouraged, as it seemed like something should have been found in the areas searched. The teams covered over 137 miles on foot during the May session. The Maine dog handlers left, tired, footsore and thoroughly depressed. The Miramichi detectives were beginning to plan where they should move to keep their families safe when David got out of jail in a few years. Lt.. Dorian, undaunted as always, was already talking about when the next mission would take place. After the May mission, Maria’s brother asked the Miramichi police if he could look around the area where the teams had been searching behind the restaurant. While riding his ATV in a gravel pit area with numerous junk vehicles, the brother said he just had a feeling that he needed to go back into the pit, and, returning, made the extraordinary find of a sawed off .22 cal. rifle that was wrapped in a tarp slid under one of the vehicles. David was known to hide weapons in the woods in this manner and this proved later on to be an important find. June 26 came and the now Sgt. Dorian and Warden Adam led three Warden Service K-9 teams consisting of Sgt. Guay, Specialist Palman and Warden Tom Jacobs and two MESARD teams, Michele Fleury and Spencer Fuller, back to Miramichi. Now the teams faced voracious swarms of mosquitoes and temperatures that reached 99 degrees at noontime on June 27. The dog teams were forced to start work at daybreak, take a break during the mid day and then work two or three hours around sunset. The teams worked areas in a new part of town further out the ATV trail than they had during the previous trip. More information was developed by the detectives working in conjunction with Sgt. Guay as they interviewed David’s hunting partners who had not been interviewed before. The wardens, more familiar with hunting than the detectives, were able to help the detectives to pursue new lines of information relating to David’s bear hunting activities. David’s bear stands were found and two different rotting bear carcasses found in the area. The teams had found many carcasses of moose and other animals in May as the melting snow revealed them. The search branched out into new areas, but as these areas were searched, they just didn’t seem “right” to the planners. On June 28, the second day and last full day of searching, teams dispersed at dawn to search their assigned areas. They returned for “brunch,” and, because the heat had broken somewhat, felt that they could do one more assignment before stopping in the late morning. As they had the previous days, Sgt. Dorian and Warden Adam collected the dog handlers’ GPS units to drive to the police department and download the handler’s tracks on the computer mapping program. When they returned about 20 minutes later, they handed out new search assignments. At this point the teams had covered 98 miles searching on June 27 and 28. Sgt. Guay was still interviewing hunting companions with the detectives, so the two MESARD teams and Warden Tom Jacobs were given areas to finish up some of the places searched on June 27. After downloading the morning’s tracks, Sgt. Dorian and Warden Adam noticed that there was one block of woods in the high probability area that had not been penetrated by a team in May. All the other blocks were transected by trails or other travel routes and had therefore been covered when the dog handlers were given the instructions to search trails and travel routes and 100 yards into the woods from those routes. The assignment of covering this block was given to Spec. Palman. The area was only a quarter mile into the woods from the restaurant where the group was eating, so Spec. Palman parked in the back yard and started from there. Spec. Palman was using her younger dog, Alex. As is standard in air scent SAR work, they started out on a compass bearing that was perpendicular to the steady northwest wind. After having to detour around a flooded, thickly grown up gravel pit, Spec. Palman found that the block of woods was actually an area that had been mechanically clear cut about 15 to 20 years ago. Much of the area was grown up to 20 to 25 foot high birch and poplar with thick clumps of balsam fir and some relatively open areas covered with bracken fern. Because of the heat, Alex did not range very far, so Spec. Palman noticed when he left, traveling up wind in about the middle of the clear cut. She could not hear the bell he wore and he did not return, so she turned up wind to follow him. After going 50 yards, she could smell decomposition but, after so many days searching and finding animal carcasses, mentally dismissed it as a moose carcass. Alex eventually returned from the direction of the smell, made eye contact with Spec. Palman and turned back towards the smell to show her the source. Spec. Palman quickly lost sight of him again and heard his bell stop ringing another 50 yards away. She was still looking for moose parts on the ground when she spotted his orange search vest in a fir thicket. Alex was standing still. Approaching closer, she saw green cloth at his feet and immediately called him to her, praising and rewarding him and securing him on lead. A human skull covered with brown, decomposed flesh was at one end of the cloth. The body, although very rotted, was undisturbed by large scavengers. It was deep in a fir thicket, covered with brush and about 300 yards from the nearest road or trail. It was near the only large dead pine tree in the old clear cut, a marker that would have been obvious in January. When Spec. Palman finally collected her thoughts, she attempted to radio in her find. Because the other searchers with Maine portable radios were still at the police department, she was unable to reach anyone for five minutes. After Sgt. Guay left the police station and finally heard her call, Spec. Palman was reluctant to say it was Maria because it was not immediately apparent what the sex of the body was, and searchers at high profile searches in Maine are accustomed to worrying about news reporters with scanners listening to the searchers’ radio transmissions. She reported to Sgt. Guay that she “had a find.” After a long pause, Sgt. Guay answered, “What did you say?” Knowing that no one in the area had the Maine frequency, Spec. Palman decided to make it clear and said, “I..…....Have……...HER.” The next thing Spec. Palman heard was the detective who was in Sgt. Guay’s truck screaming in triumph as Sgt. Guay keyed the radio while attempting to reply. This find was only possible because of the dedication and hard work by all the parties participating in the search. The search never would have been successful without the information gathered and actions taken by the Miramichi police detectives. The search would not have been successful without the training of the wilderness cadaver teams by Warden Service and MESARD that relied upon the previous work of Andy Rebmann and William Syrotuck. The most vital element that made the search work was the training, computer technology, experience and dedication of the members of the Maine Warden Incident Command Team and the persistence of Sgt. Dorian in pursuing this search. Hopefully the techniques used in this homicide search can be used as a model for other departments to build on. At the news conference about the search in Maine, one reporter asked Lt. Dorian (he was promoted back to Lt. in 2005) if he once said that “We can find anyone.” Lt. Dorian didn’t really reply to the question, and there are a few missing people the Maine Warden Service and the Maine SAR organization have looked for in the last ten years who have not been found. Lt. Dorian would say that we just haven’t looked for them long enough yet. The last chapter of this story was written on February 11, 2005 when David Tanasichuk was found guilty of the first-degree murder of Maria. The .22 cal. rifle Maria’s brother found under the junked vehicle matched the bullets found in her head and was the instrument of her death. The whole investigation and search seemed to be helped along by divine intervention. Canadian law has no death penalty and the maximum sentence David could receive was 25 years. The judge sentenced him to 25 years and he will be released from prison then, unless the bodies of his previous victims can be found, - a task the Miramichi police are still pursuing. As of June 1, 2006, the Warden Service K-9 teams and their areas of certification were:Warden Brian Tripp and K-9 Marley: Obedience, Evidence Search, Tracking, SAR Hasty Search and Fish Detection Warden Mark Merrifield and K-9 Aspen: Obedience, Evidence Search, Tracking, SAR Hasty Search and Fish Detection Warden Tom Jacobs and K-9 Duchess: Obedience, Evidence Search, Tracking, Fish and Cadaver Detection Specialist Michelle Belanger and K-9 Duchess: Evidence Search and Tracking Sergeant Roger Guay and K-9 and Raider: Obedience, Evidence Search, Tracking, Fish and Cadaver Detection Warden Wayde Carter and K-9 Buddy: Obedience, Evidence Search, Tracking, SAR Hasty Search, Cadaver and Fish Detection and Criminal Apprehension Warden Jeff Spencer and K-9 Bridger: Obedience, Evidence Search, Tracking, SAR Hasty Search and Fish Detection Warden Dan Scott and K-9 Roxie: Evidence and Tracking |
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