Trina, a Labrador from Sweden, had found a missing teenager in Waikoloa just a month earlier.
A 70-year-old man who went missing while hiking in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was found by a three-year-old police Labrador named Trina on Monday. According to the Hawaii Police Department, authorities began searching for David Arai after he had not been seen for more than 24 hours.
The dog eventually tracked him down about two miles from his rental vehicle, marking her second successful rescue in two months.Arai, who lives on Oahu, was familiar with the national park and frequently explored its trails. His son, Kaohe, told local television station KHON2 that his father often went hiking alone. This time, however, his absence led to a search involving police officers, national park personnel and a helicopter.By the time Trina found him at around 7.30 pm, the search had been under way for more than seven hours. Arai was lying slightly away from the trail, among bushes. He was subsequently carried to the trailhead and taken to Hilo Benioff Medical Center, where he received treatment for dehydration and exposure.Trina, a Labrador Retriever originally from Sweden, had helped locate an endangered teenager in Waikoloa, just a month earlier.
Arai now hopes to adopt the dog if she ever retires from police service.
The rescue operation
The search began after Puna patrol officers received a report about Arai at 12.16 pm on Monday. According to the police, he had last been known to be in the Volcano area, and nobody had seen him for over a day.Investigators treated his disappearance as an endangered missing-person case after considering his age and information gathered during their investigation.An important development came when officers found Arai's rental vehicle inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which helped establish an area for the search.Personnel from the police department and national park quickly began to search the surrounding area, while the Hawaii Fire Department deployed a helicopter to assist from above.Officer Christopher Ross, who works with the department's Area II Juvenile Aid Section and joined the operation with Trina, told KHON2 that the conditions along the trail were difficult.
Recalling how he first spotted Arai, he said the man was lying on his back in bushes, a short distance away from the trail itself.“The conditions were pretty bad going down that trail. And the first thing I noticed, I saw the top of his head, and he was slightly off trail in the bushes, like pretty much lying on his back,” Ross said.The officer also described Trina's reaction when they reached the missing hiker. The Labrador not just simply stopped after finding him, but it approached Arai and licked his hand.“We led up to him, just wanted to make sure he was okay, and Trina, when she got next to him, she licked his hand basically to let him know that we found him and that he’s safe,” Ross said.
Who is Trina, the police dog behind the rescue?
Trina is trained as a live-find human tracking canine, a specialised police dog that helps locate missing people. She is also described as scent-discriminating, which means she can follow the scent of a particular individual.Her work with the Hawaii Police Department involves searches for missing children and endangered adults across Hawaii Island.Ross spoke warmly about his canine partner after Arai was found, describing how much her presence meant to him.“I don’t think there are any words to describe it. It’s a blessing just having this dog. It really is. Like my last thought, last before I fell asleep, was that we truly have an angel on our hands," he added.
Missing hiker develops special connection with Trina
According to People magazine, Kaohe said his father was extremely grateful to the police department, park rangers and others who had participated in the operation. He was especially grateful to Ross and Trina, whose efforts ended the search.After meeting Trina, he also became interested in the possibility of giving her a home once her working years were over. “And if she ever retires and is looking for an adoption, he’s open. He said he fell in love with that dog,” Kaohe said.