A border collie trained in locating missing people yesterday joined the search of the River Dee and Co Louth coastline for six-year-old Paul McKenny. The boy has not been seen since he left school on Monday afternoon. A short time later, the body of a boy was reportedly seen in the river.
Gardai, civil defence personnel, the Drogheda River Rescue and Boyne Fishermen's Rescue have been searching the badly-swollen river since Monday afternoon. Yesterday, a team began to comb the coastline near Annagassan, where the river meets the Irish Sea. Overnight rains on Wednesday left the river level nearly two feet higher than the previous day.
The Search and Rescue Dog Organisation is run by volunteers and has three specially-trained dogs which it uses in the Dublin and Wicklow mountains to track down missing climbers. "The dogs work on tracking the airborne scent of a human, then can also work in water, because if there is a body there it will still emit a scent the dog will pick up," explained Mr Henry Smith, the owner and trainer of Morse.
Another member of the rescue unit, Mr Colin Burke, heard news reports about the search for the missing boy and offered assistance.
Yesterday, Morse and his handlers worked near the mouth of the river and about two miles downstream from the footbridge where the body of a boy was reportedly seen on Monday.