Mo. Police K-9 that Went Missing after Storm Reunited with Handler

April 7, 2025

Raider, a 3-year-old Dutch shepherd Pagedale police K-9, escaped his kennel when a tree fell on a fence during a storm last week, and he was found in a Florissant backyard with only some scapes.

By Dana Rieck

Source St. Louis Post-Dispatch

FLORISSANT, MO — Police have found the police dog who escaped his kennel during Wednesday’s storm.

A Florissant officer found Raider, a 3-year-old Dutch shepherd, just before 9 a.m. Saturday in a backyard on Sullivan Oaks Place in a Florissant subdivision.

“He’s got some scrapes and things like that,” Officer Justin Cull, his handler, told the Post-Dispatch. “It looks like he might have lost a little bit of weight. Other than that, he’s just tired. So he ate a bowl of food, and he’s laying in his crate in the house right now. I’m getting ready to give him a bath and get him to the vet.”

Raider was believed to have gotten away late Wednesday night from his kennel outside Cull’s home in Florissant.

Cull said during the storm a tree fell on his fence, which is parallel to Raider’s kennel.

“I can tell you that he serves search warrants with me,” Cull said. “I’m on a SWAT team, and he goes on almost every search warrant, and we throw flash bangs and things like that, and it doesn’t affect him. So I don’t know if the tree spooked him, if it was a lightning crash, I don’t know exactly what it was.”

Cull said his family was “elated” to have found Raider safe.

The officer said several police departments helped search for Raider, including Florissant, Berkeley, St Louis city, St Louis County, Normandy, North County Police Cooperative and Hazelwood.

Cull noted his neighbors, and even his mail carrier, also pitched in.

“The community was a great help in locating him,” he said.

Raider has been a member of the department almost two years. His specialty is finding illegal drugs.

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