Md. trooper wins national search and rescue award

When a person goes missing in Maryland or nearby states, there’s no doubt Sgt. Eric Fogle is going to hear about it.

As the lead bloodhound trainer and instructor for the Maryland State Police’s K-9 unit for the past 12 years, if Fogle isn’t heading up the search himself, he probably sent the person who is.

The 40-year-old received national recognition in May in Little Rock, Ark., when he was presented with the most prestigious award from the National Association of Search and Rescue.

His interest in working with police dogs was piqued when he first witnessed bloodhounds at work.

“Seeing how well the dogs were capable of tracking was amazing,” he said. “I just knew it was something I wanted to do.”

Named for the man generally credited with forming the organization that has evolved into NASAR, the Hal Foss Award Fogle received honors an individual or unit for making significant contributions to search and rescue at the national level.

The men who nominated Fogle cited his 16 years of experience in search and rescue working with bloodhounds. Fogle and his first bloodhound, Angel, found about 35 missing people during their 10 years together.

He and Angel’s successor, Christopher, are credited with locating five more in the past six years.

Fogle’s law enforcement career began at age 18 as a cadet in the state police’s commercial vehicle enforcement division. He graduated March 5, 1990, from the department’s 100th academy class and is now assigned to the state police’s special operations division based in Jessup.

Fogle takes his expertise with bloodhounds beyond his work with the Maryland State Police, which boasts one of the largest state police and K-9 units in the United States. The department now has 11 bloodhounds trained in search and rescue.

“Usually, we can get a dog to a search to any part of the state within an hour,” he said.

Known as well for his teaching as for his success stories, Fogle is an instructor for national bloodhound associations and has trained and certified more than 60 bloodhounds on the East Coast.

He took his first search management class in 1995 and soon became an instructor.

In 1996, Fogle developed the search and rescue protocol for the state police patrol manual. He shares the protocol with other agencies through search management training classes.

He also works closely with volunteer search and rescue groups by holding training sessions to build knowledge and trust between law enforcement and volunteer search teams.

Fogle said he’s accustomed to getting grateful hugs from mothers and grandmothers when a search turns into the rescue of a child or an ailing Alzheimer’s patient.

But even he was surprised not so long ago when he was embraced by a veteran cold-case investigator from St. Mary’s County.

After a 2 1/2-year investigation, police had exhausted all leads related to a missing man. The state’s attorney’s office had classified the case as a homicide.

Initiating a search, Fogle found the man’s remains within an hour with the help of Department of Natural Resources Police. The man’s death was ruled a suicide.

That was one hug Fogle will never forget.

“He was so relieved they could finally close the case because of all the time that had been devoted to it,” he said.

Fogle lives in Frederick with his wife, Ginger, and his sons, Tyler, 12, and Travis, 3.

“It’s rewarding work, being able to help people,” he said. “Police work isn’t always about chasing the bad guys. Sometimes there’s happy endings, too.”