CANINE TEAMS

LETTE BIRN

Lette Birn has been active in K9 SAR since 1989.
In the summer of 1989, while volunteering at a local wilderness search with her endurance horse, she came across a K9 team, went home, ordered a bloodhound puppy, joined a local SAR team and discovered a new passion: K9 SAR.
Countless nationwide training seminars, disaster deployments and wilderness searches later, Lette is currently working two labs, Piper and Finley. Lette joined Colorado Forensic Canines in 2016.

Piper is certified through NAPWDA ( 2017,2018,2019, 2021, 2022, 2023) and Mountain Canine Corps in Human Remains Detection.

From 1993-2016 Lette was a member of the New Mexico Task Force One FEMA team as a K9 handler. Deployed to the Pentagon for 9/11, and to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita with NM-TF1.
Lette has participated in hundreds of wilderness searches with MCC over the years, both live find and HR.

Now retired from self employment - and having an extremely supportive husband - has allowed Lette to embrace the K9 SAR lifestyle with lots of hours spent in the mountains, on disaster sites or at trainings throughout the country.
Lette Birn was born and raised in Denmark, attended college and taught school in Germany after marrying Joachim, her German husband.  In 1980 they moved to Los Alamos, NM with their twin sons – “for one year”.  35+ years later they are still in love with outdoor life in New Mexico.
Avid skiers, the entire family was active as volunteer patrollers with the National Ski Patrol for 15-some years. Lette taught and organized the Outdoor Emergency Care course for Pajarito Ski Patrol for several years.

Finley is certified in obedience and human remains detection through NAPWDA, 2021 and 2022,2023.

KRIS BROCK- Board Member

Kris Brock is a native of Wyoming. She started working with search dogs in November 2002.
She is a certified search dog handler, living with two Yellow Labs. Charlie was born in June, 2013 and is a certified wilderness/air scent dog through TriState K9. Colt was born in 2017 and is wilderness/air scent, evidence and water certified through TriState and dual certified in cadaver with TriState and NNCDS.

Kris was born and raised in Cody, Wyoming and she spends considerable time in the mountains, just outside Yellowstone National Park. She is married and has two daughters, a son-in-law and two grandchildren. Kris is also trained in GPS, 4-wheeling, snowmobile, basic Man-Tracking, ICS, Wilderness First Aid and CPR.
In addition to being a member of Colorado Forensic Canines, Kris is also a member of True North Search Dogs, based in Helena, MT and the Park County Search and Rescue Team in Wyoming.

Colt
Colt is Kris Brock’s current dog with CFC. Colt certified in HRD Land with NNCDS and CFC Obedience in September 2023. Certified via the CFC Standard in buried, Nov. 2022

DAYNA DOMINGUEZ

Dayna began working with search dogs in the fall of 2012 after joining PAWS Search and Rescue Dogs in
Fairbanks, AK. Here she worked intensively in trailing and was introduced to cadaver and air scent training. She then moved to Albuquerque and joining Sandia Search Dogs in February, 2014. Dayna has a SAR TECH II field certification through NASAR and NM SAR Field Certified. She has held a variety of board positions for Sandia Search dogs including president, vice president/training officer and secretary and continues to be a very active member. Dayna was a member of NM Task Force One FEMA in 2015 as a canine handler with her dog Gus. Dayna comes to CFC with a varied background in dog training and an extensive amount of work in the wilderness. She is currently handling November for CFC and has a youngster, Echo in training.

K9 November
German Shepherd/Karelian Bear Dog Cross (DOB 2/15/2012)
Certifications:
Cadaver and Obedience, NAPWDA 2017 thru 2023 (present)
Human Remains Detection Area and Buried, Sandia Search Dogs 2016-present
Canine Good Citizen, AKC 2015
Wilderness Area Live Find, Sandia Search Dogs 2015-present

Bonnie Guzman

BONNIE GUZMAN - Board Member

Bonnie's SAR career started in 2007 when she opted to train Dobermans specifically for human remains detection, with an emphasis on historic human remains. After a career as a Registered Nurse since 1971, Bonnie wanted to change course, career wise. She is now a Deputy Coroner with the Park County Coroner's office, Park County, CO
Her husband is a retired Denver Police Department officer. She is a member of  the Doberman Pinscher Club of the Rocky Mountain Area, the United Doberman Club and the Doberman Pinscher Club of America, The Pug Dog Club of America, the Rocky Mt. Pug Dog Club.

Her first dog, Porter, retired in 2019 after a long and very successful career. Octavia, her second Doberman, retired in 2021 after a long and successful career. Both Porter and Octavia were awarded Service Dog of the Year honors by the United Doberman Club. Bonnie now works her third Doberman, Swift Run’s the Peacemaker, AKA Dimash.

Certifications: Swift Run’s The Peacemaker, AKA Dimash.

Obedience, CFC Standard, Sept. 2024

Land Cadaver- NNCDS Sept. 2023, 2024

Buried- CFC Standard- November 2022

LINDA MEINCKE

Linda has had hunting dogs all her life.  As an adult, also known by some as “the crazy lady with the pointers”, for 35 years, bird dogs were her passion, and she successfully trained eleven dogs over those years. 
In 2015, she found her K9 partner, Banner, and took up Search and Rescue with a local Los Alamos, NM team, Mountain Canine Corps.  Banner was certified with MCC for wilderness airscent as well as HRD.  In June 2018, Linda and Banner also passed their first NAPWDA HR certification. Banner is now deceased and featured on the front page of our website as well as our Facebook page. She was tragically lost on a mission.

Linda has since added Gambel, a Viszla, to her pack. Gambel was certified in human remains and obedience through NAPWDA 2021, 2022.

Linda has now welcomed her new Golden Retriever, River, to the pack. Riv is already excelling at human remains detection. She plans to certify River in HRD in 2023.

River is now certified obedience and human remains detection, NAPWDA, 2023, 2024

MARTHA MILLER

Jack, a three year old English Labrador, spent his first two years of life working as a patient care assistant in an internal medicine office.  In 2022, Jack and his handler, Martha Miller, were introduced to search and rescue and the field of human remains detection, and discovered a mutual passion for the field.  They are members of Southwest Rescue Dogs (SRDI) in Tucson, and Martha is a member of the board of directors for that group. 

Martha is a native of Winter Park and spent her formative years skiing and riding horses. After college, she spent her spare time back country skiing and telemarking as well as long distance running and road cycling.  She was a self-employed internist in Tucson, AZ, and now, in retirement, enjoys roaming the desert and mountains with her dogs, training Jack, and cooking.

Good Canine Citizen SRDI, May 2022

In team certification SRDI, wilderness HRD May 2023

IPWDA certification, wilderness HRD November 2023

Martha has a SARTECH II certification through NASAR, November 2022.

KIM SADAR - Board Member

AJ is Kim's third certified search dog. He was born in 2015 and is a red coated Golden Retriever. AJ is certified in human remains detection, obedience and trailing.

NAPWDA Obedience and Cadaver: 2016, 2017, 2018,2019, 2021

SARDUS HRD Type III and IV: 2/2018, 2021

NAPWDA Trailing: 5/2017

SARDUS Trailing: 11/2017

NNCDS Land Cadaver: Sept. 2023

CFC Standards Test, buried. November 2022

Obedience, 2022

Brody was born in 2018 and is Kim’s 4th certified dog.

SARDUS HRD III & IV 2019 and 2022.

NAPWDA in Human Remains and obedience, 2021.

MARY BERRY

Mary began her career of Search and Rescue (SAR) dog training in 1986 in Albuquerque, NM, and has successfully certified trailing, wilderness area air scent, cadaver, and disaster dogs.  She founded Sandia Search Dogs in 1999. She was a member of the New Mexico Task Force One FEMA team from 1993-2007 as a dog handler and team veterinarian.  SAR deployments include hundreds of wilderness missions and deployment to the Pentagon for 9/11, and to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita with the disaster team.  Mary is NASAR SAR Tech II certified and NM Field Certified.  As a long time member of NM SAR, she was honored to receive the Ralph Dawdy Memorial Award signifying her dedication to the SAR community. Mary has presented numerous topics on dog training and, since a also a veterinarian, field first aid to canine handlers at the New Mexico annual SAR conference, Arizona SAR conference,  and other venues.  She also authored the “Use of Canines in SAR” chapter in the Boy Scouts of America’s Search and Rescue Merit Badge book, released in 2013.

Currently, Mary is handling Indy for CFC.

She also has a new puppy, Tanner, whom she got in December, 2022. Tanner is already on his way to becoming a great CFC dog. Go Tanner!

Indy, (4/26/16) , a yellow Labrador Retriever out of 3 Cedars Kennel in Pennsylvania, is now certified in Human Remains Detection and Area search. He loves to swim!

Certifications:

NAPWDA, Obedience and Human remains detection, 11/2018, 2019, 2021, 2022,2023

CINDY OLIVER- Board Member

Cindy has been a member of Sandia Search Dogs for over 16 years. She is currently trains her Labrador, Popper, and her Labrador, Princeton, in cadaver. Popper is mission ready in human remains detection, has attained cadaver certification with Sandia Search Dogs as well as attained cadaver certification through North American Police Work Dog Association ( NAPWDA). Princeton is now also mission ready in human remains detection. Cindy has also attained SAR TECH II status through NASAR. As a member of Sandia Search Dogs, Cindy has held numerous board positions including president, training officer, and membership officer. Cindy was the secretary for New Mexico Search Council from 2010-2013. Cindy has been with Colorado Forensic Canines since 2015.

Cheryl Oetting, Colorado Springs, CO

Cheryl became involved in SAR in 1999 and was a founding member of the Massachusetts
Canine Response Team. She and her first Australian Shepherd, Piper, were fully certified under
Massachusetts standards for live find air scent.
In early 2016, Cheryl brought home a new Aussie puppy, Josie, and began human remains
detection training with her. Josie and Cheryl passed the Massachusetts Basic Cadaver test in
late 2017.
In 2019, Cheryl relocated to Colorado to be closer to her family. She joined CFC and she and
Josie passed their first NAPWDA Cadaver test in November. Josie and Cheryl certified in HRD/obedience in 2021.

Josie certified in HRD Land, Sept. 2023 with NNCDS. Certified via CFC Standards in Buried, Nov. 2022

Cheryl is training an additional Aussie Shepherd, Pete, who will be in the queue for certification in 2023 in human remains detection.

                                                          TRAINING ADVISOR

Don Blair

Don Blair, Rochelle, IL.

We are pleased and honored to have a wonderful training advisor in Don Blair. His resume speaks for itself. We do a minimum of six days a year of training with Don.

Don’s website, and full C.V., may be viewed at:

https://www.ciak9.com/about

GARY SCOTT

ANTHROPOLOGIST, FIELD COORDINATOR, FORENSIC INVESTIGATIONS, BOARD MEMBER

Gary has a B.A. from the University of North Dakota, a M.A. in Anthropology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, the latter at at which his advisorwas Dr. William Bass, originator of the "Body Farm," forensic research facility.  He has been an adjunct faculty Anthropology instructor at Metropolitan State University of Denver for three years and with the Community College of Aurora for over eighteen years. His personal interests focus within the areas of human osteology, forensics and search techniques.  Additionally, Gary has been with the Human Identification Laboratory (HIL) for 3 years and has assisted Federal, State, City and County law enforcement agencies with multiple human remains searches and the analysis of human skeletal remains. Gary appreciates the relationship that has developed between Colorado Forensic Canines and the anthropology community.

GROUND PENETRATING RADAR

Katharina Hemingway, Department of Anthropology, University of Denver, Denver, CO

I discovered an interest for ground-penetrating radar during my undergraduate studies at the University of Denver about 2 years ago. It's ability to quickly, accurately, and non-destructively collect and present data is fascinating and an incredibly powerful technique that always has my interests peaked. My focus lies in using the GPR system for its forensic abilities, and I have worked on a variety of projects including assisting police departments on investigations, with historical and private cemeteries to locate lost burials, as well as simply looking for lost graves. It is also always a great pleasure to team-up with these fascinating dogs when we face difficult, large terrain. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have regarding ground-penetrating radar, or if you need to figure out whether it would be appropriate to use this service on your project. Phone: 303-884-4613 or E-mail: katharinahemingway@gmail.com

FIELD TECHNICIANS

Jen Brown

I began training for SAR in 2021 and joined Colorado Forensic Canines in 2022. I have a career in Accounting and love hiking, kayaking, my dogs and traveling. Born and raised in Savannah Georgia, I was always either playing in the woods or playing in the water. The outdoors has always brought me a great sense of freedom and joy, so when I moved to Colorado in 2015, it was a natural transition. My excitement for exploration has only grown, which is what led me to the SAR community. I aspire to becoming and HRD canine handler sometime in the future. In the meantime, there is a lot to learn and much ground to cover.

Steve Elbert

Karen Gotski

I have enjoyed hiking, skiing all my life and have lived in Colorado for the past 20 years.  More recently I have started backpacking and rock climbing.  I’m well over halfway to the goal of climbing Colorado’s 100 highest peaks.  My father was an Air Force navigator, so I learned how to use maps at a young age.  When GPS technology became available I was very interested and it led me to the hobby of geocaching in 2007.  Hiking in the backcountry for many years has helped me develop skills with map, compass, GPS and online mapping tools.  In addition to working as field support for the handler teams I want to help CFC use all available technology in their efforts.

I graduated from the Air Force Academy and served in the Air Force as a pilot.  I recently retired from a major airline and now have time to put some of the skills I have gained over the years to use with CFC.

Faye Manceaux

I spent 31 years teaching teenagers and am currently retired. Some of my current time is spent supporting Colorado Forensic Canines in the capacity as Field Support.

I have also trained 4 dogs to Schutzhund titles which includes tracking and obedience as part of the requirement. Because I have spent the last 30 years training dogs as a hobby, I understand the intricacies of training tracking, and the difficulty of the task.

In addition, my love of the outdoors has instilled in me a confidence in the wilderness. Since I am an avid hiker it helps with physical conditioning, as well as, a healthy respect for Mother Nature. Colorado outdoor activities have been my passion for years. These qualities are needed in a person supporting the dog teams in outdoor searches.

Susan Schwartz

Eric Sorensen

Lindsay Nelson

HISTORICAL RESEARCH

Silvia Pettem

Silvia Pettem is a self-employed researcher, author, writer, and public speaker with a passion for researching cold cases, unidentified remains, and longtime missing persons. She spent the first two decades of her career doing historical research and writing for individu­als, businesses, and local governments. Then, in 1996, her life took a new turn when she stumbled upon the gravestone of a Jane Doe––a murder victim from 1954.

A few years later, she applied her research skills to both old-fashioned detective work and the power of the Internet by entering into a successful partnership with her local sher­iff and with forensic experts of the Vidocq Society to determine the young woman’s identity. She chronicled their work in her book, Someone’s Daughter: In Search of Justice for Jane Doe.

Now an associate member of the Vidocq Society and one of its Medal of Honor recipients, Silvia is an American Investigative Society of Cold Cases consulting committee member, a volunteer in the Detectives Section of the Boulder Police Department, an advisory board member (and social media coordinator) of the organization Families of Homicide Victims & Missing Persons, and a NamUs instructor in classes sponsored by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.

She wrote her latest book, Cold Case Research: Resources for Unidentified, Missing, and Cold Homicide Cases, in order to aid other investigators as they grapple with cold cases of their own. Silvia can be reached at pettem@earthlink.net or via her website, www.silviapettem.com