Jul 12, 2009 11:56 am US/Central
'Bear' the Chicago Police Dog Goes Missing Again
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Bear the Chicago Police dog is missing, again.
Police confirmed the male German shepherd went missing from the backyard of his handler's home on the 3800 block of West 109th Street in the Mt. Greenwood neighborhood on Friday night.
Police are conducting an active search for the dog.
The dog had gone missing for several days in mid-May when it reportedly scaled a 5-foot fence after being scared by thunder. There was a thunderstorm in the area on Friday evening, officials said.
This makes the third time the 3 1/2-year-old has run away from his home in two years. The last time
Bear the Chicago Police dog had been missing for three days. A clap of thunder frightened the narcotics dog so much, he jumped the fence at the home of his owner, Detective Rick King.
King refused to comment Sunday afternoon.
Good Samaritan Howard Overton spotted Bear along some railroad tracks on the Southwest Side near a cemetery on the border between Evergreen Park and Chicago.
He waved down another officer who brought Bear to safety. Overton received a $2,000 reward.
Bear's human partner, Chicago Police Officer Rick King, said Bear at age one made his way over a cyclone fence in King's yard and was missing for about 40 minutes. He had run away to a nearby park, King said.
The officer said that's the first place he checked after Bear disappeared the second time.
Bear is described as a 74-pound German Shepherd trained to track, do search and rescue and search property. The dog is black and tan in color and has an identification computer chip implanted under his skin, according to a police release issued in May.
King has another dog, too -- Deny, a retired police dog. But the two dogs don't get along well, he said, maybe because of jealousy on Deny's part that Bear gets to spend his days working while Deny stays at home.
K-9 dogs help the Chicago police bring in millions of dollars in narcotics and transaction money each year.
If anyone sees Bear, they are asked to call 911 or police at (312) 746-7180.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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