On Tuesday morning, SARDA Ireland were tasked by Cobh Gardaí to a search for a missing person in Carrigtwohill in East Cork. The 23 year old male was last seen on Sunday, October 13.
Local volunteers Louise Burgoyne with search dog Lyla, Eadaoin O’Gorman with search dog Murphy and Michael Grant with search dog Ziggy all responded.
Unfortunately, the body of Kaelam McKibbon was located shortly before 1pm on Tuesday by Louise and search dog Lyla with Edwin O’Sullivan of Cork City Missing Persons Search and Recovery.
Other agencies in attendance included An Garda Síochána Cobh, Garda dog unit, Guileen Coast Guard and Cork City Missing Persons Search and Recovery.
SARDA, although a nationwide organisation has two dog teams in the Midleton area.
“I think that today’s tragic event should make us all realise the value and importance of having such a valuable on-call volunteer-run service,” Noel Culbert who is PRO for SARDA (Search And Rescue Dog Association) told The Avondhu.
SARDA Ireland is a voluntary 999/112 emergency search and rescue organisation concerned with the training, assessment and deployment of Air Scenting Search and Rescue Dogs to search for missing persons.
“Our dog teams, which consist of the handler and their dog, search anywhere in Ireland and are effective in the mountains, woodlands, rural and urban areas, waterways and seashore, as well as in locating accident or disaster victims,” Mr Culbert said.
