Hart County Sheriff’s Office Has Free Scent Kits Available

The Hart County Sheriff’s Office has a limited supply of Scent Evidence kits that were provided by the Elder Abuse Task Force.

Joe Gavalis is the Founder of the Elder Abuse Taskforce.

Speaking on Community Forum last month, he said the kits can be given to families of vulnerable elderly adults with dementia/Alzheimer’s or a child with disabilities who would be at risk of walking away from home and getting lost.

“We found during our discussions with law enforcement that one of the most urgent needs is to help find a missing person; especially someone who might have dementia and tends to wander,” he said. “The problem is when you’re missing someone like this the importance here is time. But by the time you call them, you may have been looking for several hours, you looked for them, you called people, maybe you talked to people in the neighborhood.”

“The Hart County Sheriff’s office has a scent discriminating bloodhound which can track the scent of a particular person when other individuals are around,” said Hart County Sheriff Captain Chris Carroll. “The kits will be a huge asset to their tracking program when dealing with elderly adults of children with disabilities.”

Gavalis said the kits are simple to use and will provide a sterile scent that can be kept for up to seven years or longer.

“We have a kit that we give out. It’s free. It comes through law enforcement. What it does it gets the scent of the person. It’s administered by a family member. It’s a wiping of the person under the arms or in the groin area to get the pure, uncontaminated scent and you put that cloth in a sealed glass jar. And that scent will last for up to five to seven years, he explained. “And in the event of someone who’s gone missing that scented cloth is shown to bloodhounds, called cold-tracking dogs to help find that person.”

If anyone wants one of these kits, please contact Captain Chris Carroll at the Sheriff’s Office (706-376-3114) to fill out an information sheet and get your kit.

The Lavonia Police Department also has kits available.