ST. CHARLES CO. - Bonnie, a St. Charles County K-9 Electronic Detection Dog, and now School Resource Officer K-9, is calling it quits after eight years of catching sex offenders and human traffickers that used electronic devices to commit their crimes.
The St. Charles County Police Department is celebrating Bonnie’s eight years of faithful service September 20th at 10 a.m. with a retirement ceremony, where his many accomplishments will be acknowledged and rewarded with baskets of gifts and treats from local pet supporters. The ceremony will be at the St. Charles County Police Department (101 Sheriff Dierker Ct., O’Fallon, MO). Bonnie, a 10-year-old Labrador Retriever, began her career in 2016 with an initial 5-week training in Electronic Storage Detection (ESD) with the Connecticut State Police K-9 Unit. The Connecticut State Police K-9 Unit was the first in the world to train K-9’s in detection of ESD’s. Upon Bonnie’s completion of training in April 2016, she became the first certified ESD dog in the state of Missouri.
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Bonnie’s handler, Officer Brigid Oldani, a 34-year law enforcement officer, has been partnered with Bonnie for the K-9’s entire career. Ofc. Oldani and Bonnie have conducted approximately 300 searches for local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. Bonnie has also done double-duty as a community engagement K-9, attending over 400 community events in her 9-year career with the St. Charles County Police Department. Early in Bonnie’s career, while conducting a K-9 sniff at a residential search warrant, Bonnie located evidence that contained child sexual abuse images of a minor female, who was in the residence at the time of our search.
Because Bonnie located this evidence, allowing us to positively identify the child while on scene, a forensic interview of the child was immediately conducted, saving the child from having to testify in court later. A unique search that Ofc. Oldani and Bonnie conducted, had no criminal element attached. St. Peters Police Department requested our assistance in locating a cell phone, which was lost during a fatal accident several days before.
The cell phone belonged to a teenager who had died in the accident and the family was desperate to find the phone, in hopes of recovering some of the last pictures of their son. This search was especially challenging since the search area was a large vacant lot, covered in 3ft height weeds, and the phone had been lost several days before. After about 15minutes of searching, Bonnie located the cell phone, buried under the weeds and mud.
Ofc. Oldani said this find has been one of the most memorable, hoping they were able to bring some happiness to a family during a tragic event. Bonnie plans on spending her time in retirement with extra naps, belly rubs and more snacks. Bonnie will remain under the care and custody of Ofc. Oldani after leaving law enforcement service. Ofc. Oldani has already selected a new SRO K-9 partner; Chili. Chili will be Ofc. Oldani’s certified SRO Therapy Dog to help her where she is assigned as the School Resource Officer to Becky David Elementary School.
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