Truth or Consequences, NM, March 21, 2017'For Immediate Release. In early March of 2017, a canine team from the Missouri Region "C" Technical Rescue Team (St. Louis, MO) came to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico to assist East Zone Archaeologist Christopher Adams. This is the first time that cadaver dogs have been used on Region 3 (Southwestern Region) Forest System lands looking for archaeological grave sites.
Agencies involved in this cadaver dog investigative survey was the Gila National Forest, New Mexico State Parks, Bureau of Reclamation, White Sands Missile Range and the National Park Service. A series of sites were investigated that ranged from prehistoric to historic sites. Patrick Horn is Team Leader for the Missouri Region "C" Technical Rescue Team, Rochelle Horn and Elizabeth Storey, are all canine handlers and they assisted in the weeklong investigations to see how their cadaver dogs performed at archaeological sites here in the Southwest.
Rochelle Horn working "Bella"
at a historic grave site
Team Leader Patrick Horn working "Halligan"
on a wagon train massacre siteAdams said, "They were a huge success in helping find undiscovered graves on both prehistoric and historic sites." Not every dog can be a cadaver dog. Each dog must undergo extensive initial training (two years of intensive training/certification is needed to pass the canine) and then yearly refresher training.
The three cadaver dogs were all German Shepherds and they range in age from three year-old "Bella," two year-old "Halligan" and one year-old "Axe." The areas that the cadaver dogs scented on were marked and recorded and no grave sites were disturbed or excavated. Adams said, "Using cadaver dogs will be a useful tool for future archaeological projects here in the southwest."
Future work is planned in the fall of 2017 for more cadaver dog surveys on the Black Range Ranger District, Gila National Forest. Stay tuned for more exciting details.
For information on the Gila National Forest, check out our website at http://www.fs.usda.gov/gila or join the conversation on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GilaNForest/ or follow us on Twitter @GilaNForest.