The Van Buren County Sheriff’s Department has been able to rescue a 79-year-old man from the Paw Paw River, partly thanks to K9 officer Charlie.
The sheriff’s department says deputies were called to the 35,000 block of Riverview Drive in Waverly Township around 5 p.m. on Thursday on a report of a suspicious vehicle. They arrived to find the vehicle had been abandoned in a secluded area of property behind a home. The homeowner told the deputies they found the vehicle in an obscure portion of the backyard.
Deputies then learned the vehicle belonged to a 79-year-old Jackson man who they believed may have become disoriented and wandered off into the woods.
Due to the terrain, which included the banks of the South Branch of the Paw Paw River, police brought in K9 Charlie, who successfully established a track leading toward the river. Deputies then heard the man yelling for help and found him partially in the river and clinging to some downed trees.
The K9’s handler was able to pull the man to safety and he was taken to Bronson Lakeview Hospital for evaluation.
The sheriff’s department says it commends the coordinated efforts of responding deputies, K-9 Charlie, and EMS personnel.
