While many people were using the weekend to catch up on yard work, hang out with friends or work on personal projects, Jake Voter and a dog named Koda were out saving lives.
They got started on Friday after reports of a missing 11-year-old girl came in. The girl went missing from her home in St. Albans, Maine, at around 9 a.m.
By 10:15, authorities had been contacted, and responding agencies included the Somerset County deputies, Maine State Police, the Maine Forest Service, St. Albans Fire Department and the Maine Warden Service according to WCSH.
1 weekend, 2 rescues for Maine Game Warden Jake Voter and K9 Koda
?Congrats team. Great job saving lives
?missing 11-y/o girlhttps://t.co/RW9AxA1IVY
?missing 77-y/o womanhttps://t.co/6Wtufp3502 #BackTheBlue #ThinBlueLine #dog #K9 #police #military #MWD #WaronDrugs pic.twitter.com/tVZkzoI7hw— Tactical Dog (@TacticalDogLive) May 24, 2022
Jake Voter, a Maine Game Warden, and K9 Koda made short work of the search. Within 45 minutes Koda had tracked the girl’s scent and found her in a boggy area behind the family home.
Voter then gave the girl a piggyback ride back to the house, according to KESQ-TV.
While the girl was cold, she was unharmed, thanks to the quick and skilled response of the search team.
Saving one person would be a lifetime achievement for most, but Voter and Koda, who are in the business of saving lives, were back out on the job Sunday night in Bremen, Maine.
Mary Forde, 77, had last been seen Friday night. On Sunday, her neighbors visited to check on her and found a concerning scene: Forde’s purse and phone were inside, but the back door was open and the house was empty.
CHECK IT OUT: Maine Game Warden Jake Voter and Game Warden K-9 Koda rescued their second missing person of the weekend early Monday morning. (?: Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife)
STORY: https://t.co/VhH5grcy4B pic.twitter.com/OEM20Gb2Xr
— CBS 13 News (@WGME) May 23, 2022
According to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife (MDIFW), a Knox County Sheriff’s deputy and his K9 attempted to locate Forde but were unsuccessful.
“Warden Voter and Koda began searching the thick woods behind the house shortly after, and after following an old trail, Koda was able to pick up a scent that led them to Forde, over 600 yards from her house, at approximately 12:40 a.m. this morning,” the MDIFW wrote in a news release.
A 77-year-old woman who went missing in Lincoln County was found with the help of a Maine Game Warden K9.https://t.co/Tw5Ms93VdC pic.twitter.com/5RI1APJJFx
— WGAN News (@WGANNews) May 23, 2022
“Forde was alert but severely dehydrated when she was found by Voter and Koda.
“Forde told Voter that she had fallen, and was too weak to get up, and that she had spent two nights in the woods.
“Forde was examined on site by an EMT, then transported by Bremen Fire and Rescue on an ATV to a waiting ambulance, then transported to Lincoln Health Hospital in Damariscotta.”
Forde’s current condition is unknown, but it’s thanks to Voter and Koda that both she and the girl were found alive and able to get the care they needed.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
