Quick question for the seasoned veterans here to help the newbies reading this thread. How many times have searchers and even SAR dogs walked all around the location where a body is eventually found? Sometimes within just a few feet of the remains. It happens more than you would like to think. Caylee Anthony is one case that comes to mind where several search teams overlooked the remains.
No fault to the searchers, because I know of many a time something gets overlooked in the refrigerator. (Just a little humor to lighten things up a bit)
Re: SAR dogs, off the top of my head, Gabrielle Swainson:
("For days last August, police walked every square inch of the tiny town where missing teen Gabrielle Swainson was last known to be.
But the 5-foot-deep hole where her body was found Thursday night was impossible to see.
In the early days of the search, the FBI had set up its command post at a fire department less than two football fields away. Even cadaver dogs had walked past the grave hidden among trees about 40 yards from railroad tracks off U.S. 1 in Elgin.
Finally, the man charged with Gabrielle’s kidnapping pointed it out to Richland County sheriff’s investigators.
“The monster Freddie Grant took us to a location in Elgin where he buried Gabbiee,” Sheriff Leon Lott said. “This has been 357 days of terror that Gabbiee’s mother and family have endured and that this community has endured. This is not the way we would have liked to end it.”"
http://www.thestate.com/latest-news/article14439380.html )
There's also Maddie Middleton...
( "The unidentified teen knew Madyson Middleton and was near the bin when a detective found her body during a second search Monday evening, Police Chief Kevin Vogel said during an emotional news conference. The boy had reportedly helped look for her."
Snip
"Vogel said the body had been concealed "in a way that was not obvious or readily apparent. If you just opened the top of the bin, you would not have seen the body.""
Snip
"Following Maddy's disappearance, police conducted door-to-door searches of the complex and nearby communities. Authorities searched in nearby woodlands, parks and along the San Lorenzo River. Helicopters, bicycle patrols, dogs and even boats aided*the search.*Middleton's father, Michael, spent much of Monday searching the streets with friends."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/07/28/missing-girl-santa-cruz/30769755/
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But dogs HAVE also been useful in so many cases. It's just not guaranteed all the time because there are various factors and variables.
