The morning began like dozens of other search operations that Officer Daniel Reyes had participated in during his twelve years with the county sheriff’s department. The call that brought them out to the wooded edge of Hollow Creek sounded minor enough at first: a group of hikers had reported finding a piece of what looked like old clothing caught in the roots of a fallen tree near the trail. Normally that kind of discovery led nowhere, but because the county had recently formed a small cold-case unit, the department decided to send a team just to document the site.
Daniel stepped out of the patrol vehicle while his K9 partner, a German Shepherd named Rex, waited patiently in the back. Rex had been trained primarily for tracking suspects and locating narcotics, but like most well-trained working dogs, he had a powerful instinct for unusual scents buried beneath soil and time. Daniel clipped the leash onto the dog’s harness and walked him slowly along the forest path while the other officers began marking the area.
