A Police Dog Found A Missing Mom And Her Baby During Its First Shift On The Force

(CNN) -- A missing mother and her 1-year-old baby were found after a very good boy named Max discovered them on the edge of a ravine.

It was newly licensed police dog Max's first day on the job with the Dyfed-Powys department in Wales when the dog and its handler, PC Peter Lloyd, began their search for the two missing people.

"The woman had not been seen or spoken to for two days, which was out of character, and her phone wasn't working, so naturally concern for her safety was high," inspector Jonathan Rees-Jones said in a statement.

"Thanks to excellent work between teams, the woman's car was quickly found on a mountain road. Although this gave officers a location to search from, there was still a vast area to cover given the amount of time she had been missing."

That's when Max's tracking skills came to the rescue. Guided by Max and after 90 minutes of searching, Lloyd spotted the missing woman waving for help on the side of the mountain near a steep ravine, Rees-Jones said.

The two were found safe, but cold, and are believed to have been in the area for a long time.

"I was really pleased that during our first operational deployment as a dog team, myself and Max were able to safely locate the missing mother and baby," Lloyd said in a statement. "Max remained focused throughout the long search and he proved invaluable when he reacted to the call for help which resulted in us locating them."

This was also Lloyd's first shift with Max since joining the Dyfed-Powys Police dog section in February. Max, a general purpose dog, will be used by the force to track and locate people, find abandoned property, and locate suspects.

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