NORTH PORT, Florida -- A Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office K9 found dead after being missing since Saturday appears to have died after being hit by a car, preliminary necropsy results show.
K9 Edo had been discovered missing around 8 p.m. Saturday from his kennel in his handler’s garage near the area of Cranberry Boulevard and Tamiami Trail, the sheriff’s office announced on social media.
At about 11:20 a.m. Monday, the sheriff’s office announced that K9 Edo had been found less than half a mile from where he went missing.
“We are overwhelmed by the support we have received from the community while searching for K9 Edo, both in North Port and Charlotte County,” Sheriff Bill Prummell said in a statement. “This was not the outcome we had hoped for, and our thoughts and prayers are with the handler and his family at this time.”
The preliminary results of a necropsy performed Monday afternoon showed that Edo’s injuries were consistent with being hit by a car, North Port police said.
Edo was found at about 10 a.m. Monday by a neighbor who was out walking her dog.
A crime scene in the area of Velvet Lane and Lemay Lane, according to North Port Police, had traffic detoured from the area as investigators worked. The sheriff’s office is assisting police with the investigation of their K9’s death.
Edo was in his latched kennel inside his handler’s garage when he was discovered missing on Saturday evening. The garage door was open since the weather had cooled off, according to the sheriff’s office, but it was unknown how he got out or was removed from his kennel.
His handler, Deputy Sean Davoli, last saw Edo at about 7:16 p.m., he told police and his own chain of command, when he went to grab a bag of chicken wings from a freezer in his garage, according to an incident report. Davoli, who was cooking dinner inside with his family, came back out at about 8 p.m. to discover the cage still securely closed but Edo gone.
Davoli searched for Edo and then called to report the incident to his chain of command at the sheriff’s office and North Port police. Officers who responded to the call found brothers who live in the neighborhood and claimed they had seen a German shepherd running from their front yard and into the backyard of another nearby home between 7:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Even though the brothers knew Edo, they told police they didn’t think anything of seeing the dog running away.
“Deputy Davoli was confident that K9 Edo was not able to open the door by himself. He stated he felt someone had to have opened the door for him,” the incident report states. “Deputy Davoli stated that K9 Edo was a very well-behaved dog and he was not ‘a barker.’ He stated that K9 Edo likely would not have barked if anyone came up to his cage.”
Police don’t know how Edo got out of his cage and were unable to find evidence that someone entered Davoli’s garage, had let Edo go or had taken the K9. Police believe that Edo away, however, after getting out of the cage.
A search of the area Saturday night aided by the sheriff’s office helicopter revealed no signs of Edo, according to police.
Davoli and K9 Edo had been part of the sheriff’s office K9 unit since December 2015.
Anyone who has any information about the case can contact Detective Sgt. Pam Jernigan at 941-429-7321 or [email protected].
Jessica De Leon: 941-745-7049, @JDeLeon1012
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