Melissa Wolfenbarger: Trace Sargent | Part 3

any of that. And she explained that this dog was at work, not just a family pet, but literally he had a job. And I told her that I didn't know dogs could have jobs, and she said to me, you've seen other dogs working on farms, heard animals, you've seen dogs in movies. That's a job, like Lassie had a job. I had never thought about it that way. She said that our local jewelry store had that watchdog.

And of course I knew that dogs would sometimes search and chase down escaped convicts, so my mind was blown. I did know all of those things to be true. I knew that dogs did have jobs, I just never

really thought about it. And I certainly didn't know they had jobs where they helped people well, later in my career, of course, I've been very fortunate to work with dogs many many times, canine searching for bombs, missing elderly, lost children, finding dope, firearms, and of course an escaped prisoner or two. I've even seen the difference these incredible creatures have made in the lives of folks suffering and in need of therapy. Dogs dogs can even help identify medical issues, like alerting

somebody to a seizure before it happens. I've seen in person canins that responded to the Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta and to the nine to eleven terror attacks. We owe so much to these incredible animals. One of the things that I've been lucky enough to do more than one time is watch Trace Sergeant work. Now, y'all, when I tell you work, I mean she works. We have

searched for evidence behind a home. She went down to South Georgia for me on a missing person. We have worked a murder case, searching for evidence in the woods. We've even worked to Dixie Mafia case together. Trace has never told me no when I've called and asked for her help, not once. Now I want y'all understand she's got dogs that are expertly trained. They need water, they need food, they need vest. Her car needs gasoline, she needs food and water. She's never asked me for anything

to tell you a little bit about her career. She is a PhD candidate. She has animals that she trains and has owned ready for movies. So if sometimes you see a turtle or a bird or a goat in a movie, could absolutely be one of hers. So on top of these canines that assist law enforcement and do search and rescue, she's got her hand and a lot of other stuff. She even has her own podcast. This is a very accomplished, very busy woman, and we were lucky enough to get her on the Melissa Wolfenberg case.

I'm gonna quit talking so we can get Trace in here, because not only is she fascinating, the way she talks about her dogs is just it's awesome. So Tray Sergeant, welcome to Zone seven. Well, thank you, Cheryl. It is a pleasure and a privilege to be here, and I appreciate the invitation. I've been doing this for many years and people are still fascinated by what these dogs can do and all the different areas that you've mentioned. How

did you get into this trace? That's a really good question, Cheryl, And when I'm asked that, it's not a real simple answer, but I will give you the water down reader digest version of it. So many years ago, I was busy with school and work, and I was having to work to put myself through college and just kind of the craziness of all that. I didn't have any animals at the time, but I grew up with dogs and nothing you know, special as far as working dogs, but just

your regular loved pet. So when I finished college, I knew I wanted to get a dog, but I also knew that I wanted to do something special or different with that dog. I had no idea what that would be,

but I knew I wanted something more than just a companion. So, as luck would have it, I was living in Alabama at the time, that's where I'm originally from, and I currently live in Georgia now, and met a lot of folks in Alabama that did a lot of different things with dogs, which is agility and obedience and things like that.

I did locate a local breeder that bred some German shepherds, and in my research I discovered that German Shepherds were really a perfect match for me, and they really are a great fit for me and my breed of choice, so to speak, and the kind of work I do. Although I've worked other dogs and other breeds do incredibly well with this kind of work as well, but for me particularly, I started with German Shepherds, so I kind of have a special place in my heart for them.

So I see this little of puppies and one comes running to me, and I really want to emphasize that I truly did not know what end of the dog barked when I started on this journey, and I'm not exaggerating about that. I knew nothing about training a dog. Knew nothing about drives and instincts and what entails a working dog and all of those things that are so important for these dogs and all the different jobs that

we asked them to do. With that being said, the first puppy that comes running to me, it was love at first sight. And as I said, I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do with the dog, but as faith would have it, it stepped in and it planted that seed for me. And that is a article

that was from Reader's digest and I still have it to this day about a woman with a German shepherd that found a missing three year old child and something just a lightbulb came on and I thought, Wow, you know what. I don't know what's involved, but something just really hit home with me, and I thought to myself, I don't know, you know how to do this. I don't know where to start, but dad, gumm it, if

she can do it, I can do it too. And that's kind of started my journey in kind of an accidental road to discovering what I was supposed to do with my life and what I was really born to do, and what I was so lucky to find my passion in life. And I've recognized over the years not many people are lucky to find that, especially at such a young age, but I was no question. My favorite part of that whole story is that little dog found you. Yeah. It was an incredible, what I didn't know at the time,

a life changing moment for me. So I realized this cute, adorable, little fuzzy Puffy was going to be big and probably much stronger than me and very short time. So that's when I realized I needed to reach out to people that understood what Grumman shepherds were about and how to train them, and I met some amazing people along the way, but it just again wasn't exactly what I was looking for.

But when I read that article, that's when I realized, Wow, that's what I'm supposed to do with that said again, still living in Alabama, I started making some phone calls. Some people kept telling me about this particular deputy sheriff that was, unbeknownst to me, was kind of a legend in his own way there with the local sheriff's office, and they said, listen, if you want to know about working dogs and what's involved in searching for people and how to train them and all the ins and outs,

he's the go to guy. I would like to emphasize that the best part about my life at that point in time and years after that and getting involved in the things that I have gotten involved with over the years, is that I was young, dumb, stupid, and naive. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. That's the best combination, isn't it. It really is now if I know now what I you know what I know now? Back then i'd probably say, are you out of your mind?

Why would you even think about doing something like that? But I didn't. So it helped when you're young, dumb, stupid, naive, and quite frankly fearless, because I just I just really had no concept of what it was all about. And it was this amazing, grand adventure. So with that said, I being young and stupid, I thought, oh well, I'll just call him up to see, you know, if he would, you know, at least give me some advice or suggestions on what to do. And it was some time before

we even got together. We met and he evaluated my dog at the time was his name was Zach. He said, well, he seems like a pretty nice dog and and he said, you seem pretty pretty committed to this. And I tell you what, I will make you a deal. I'm always looking for for people to lay tracks for my two dogs, which was a German shepherd and a bloodhound. And if you do that, I will help you train your dog and show you know the ins and outs. And I thought,

well that's wonderful. What does lay in tracks mean? Well, that's a good question. So laying tracks the difference is and I will be happy to explain this in more detail, but just the laying tracks, and I'll go into the different things that dogs do for us in reference to finding people in evidence, but lay in tracks. If you think of the concept of a rabbit or a deer, is that we use the dog's natural drive to hunt

down prey. Instead of let's say a wolf or a codey running down a rabbit and deer to hunt it and kill it to eat it. Dogs have those same instincts and drives. We just channel those drives. So when somebody lays a track, so I would ask you, for example, Cheryl, I would I need you to lay a track for me, So you would go, you know, a hundred yards, turn right, go a couple hundred yards, turn left, and go about one hundred more yards and hide somewhere. So that way

the dog is able to quote follow your track. And that's part of their training and their maintenance and their conditioning and things like that. But we really, I would like to emphasize in all of this, I really can't take much credit for these dogs. And I've learned that over the years, we just channel those natural drives these dogs already have. They really have superpowers. And after all, the years I've been doing this, it's still like magic

watching them work. It truly is incredible, how effortless and how happy that these dogs do the work that we ask them to do. And I do get that question a lot, how do you make your dogs do this? I don't. I'm just the chauffeur, the cleanup crew, I'm the hairdresser, I'm the chef, I'm all of that. But I don't make these dogs do. They absolutely love it, and I can attest to that, I've seen it. They cannot wait for you to come get them out of the car. Yes, absolutely, And that journey and all of

this meeting Joe was his name. He's passed away. He passed away years ago, him and some other folks, of course, being in law enforcement. My father, he too has passed away, was a firefighter EMT, so I at least had a little bit of exposure in the public safety world, but nothing like the things that Joe and the other folks taught me, the ins and outs of law enforcement, that I realized, this is what I'm supposed to do with

my life. And that led to Okay, I'm searching for this person and I actually find them and they're hurt. What do I do? I don't know how to take care of them. So that's when I became an EMT. And then hanging out with the other folks as far as firefighters and emas which is Emergency management agency personnel, of course the law enforcement folks all of that, I realize, my gosh, you'll actually get paid to have this much fun. I cannot believe this. So that's when I became a firefighter.

And then I realized I need some Ham radio operaio experience on how to operate a radio, so I became a Ham radio operator from there, and of course the law enforcement part of it, and through all of that, and I think it's important to share with your listeners as well as you sharel all the things that I've done in my life. You mentioned about the movies and production world that literally exploded here in Georgia. I have my own farm and I have working dogs for that.

I'm actually was a regional representative for a nationwide company that actually places service dogs for like physically challenged individuals. I did that a number of years, extremely rewarding. Can I say all that to say all the things that I've done in my life. The dogs have always been the keystone always that never changed and to this day

that has not changed. From reading that reader's Digest article, to meeting Joe, which became my mentor, to meeting the other law enforcement folks and the other public safety professionals, That's when I realized that's what I'm supposed to do with my life. From their doors opened and a ventures happened that I wasn't even aware of, meaning that I'm on a federal task force team. I've been on international missions.

I've been around the country doing missing person cases, some of them very high profile, and of course a lot of cases here in Georgia and Alabama. I've worked bomb dogs. I did that over in Iraq for a number of years. I've worked with again, especially trained dogs that help people with physical challenges and disabilities. Of course my farm dogs all of that. But people know me most as a subject matter expert in missing person cases, both dead and

a life. I mean, I've worked with numerous agencies and your name will come up when we're putting together any type of team. It's something you should be really proud of because you have built something that is extraordinary. Well, I appreciate that, Cheryl. All the things that I've done, it's been as a volunteer basis, and it never occurred to me to ever make money doing this, and I want listeners to know that this is a very expensive endeavor. I don't do it for the money. I never have

and I never will. When I did these things, it was with my own personal dogs. I never had an agency dog. Always use my own personal dogs because that gave me a lot of flexibility to be able to help whoever needs it. That has really I didn't realize that when I first started this, but that really helped out a lot. Sometimes. You know, some people weren't happy with that, and I understand that, but for me, it

was never about politics. And I would say the best statement I can explain on that is that I always

put people before politics and principles before policies. And I can attest to it. I've seen it, I've witnessed it. You know, one thing that you mentioned that I want to really stress to the young people listening and the older people too, it don't matter when it's your dog. Somebody can't tell you what you can or can't do with it. And I think that was brilliant even though you might not have started it because of that, it's

a fabulous result of it. I would agree. Even when I was working with the local Sheriff's office, I was running down oh my gosh, cop killers, rapist, murderers, thugs, you name it, and the good lord and my poor guardian Angel. I know it's warm completely out, but it's done a really good job over the ears, because there's been a lot of times. I gotta be honest, Cheryl, I don't understand why I survived. I don't understand why I live through that, but I'm so thankful that I did.

I think, Cheryl, you you may get this feedback from folks, you know, hey, it's amazing what you do and how exciting and how cool and sexy and all of that. And I get that too, especially with the dogs. But I'm like, you see ten seconds of my life. It's

a very very short snapshot. It's not glamorous. It's not for the lighthearted, and it's not a lot of things people ask, you know, how do you not get you know, depressed or fresh traded or mad or angry or whatever, or gets just all caught up and again, the high emotionally charged kind of things that these especially homicide cases can really really cause a lot of a lot of a lot of good things, but a lot of, you know,

really weird things too. And I just tell folks, I just stay focused on why I'm doing this and what's really important, and that is these families that have found themselves and a horrible, horrible, unimaginable nightmare and a living hell. And I've worked with so many families over the years that I have come to recognize it doesn't matter who they are, where they come from, why their loved one is missing. What matters is that the not knowing is

the absolute worst life that these people can live. Karen

and I that you talked. You know you heard Karen last week, but we talked over and over and over who should we bring on this first grouping. And I wanted an eclectic group, but I wanted a group that I knew would jail immediately, get on the same page immediately. And again we had assistant distric attorney Adrian Love, investigator Stein, Melissa's mama, Norma, her sister Tina, doctor Dwayne Thompson, myself, and Karen, and of course Trace. And when Trace pulls

up in her big old red truck. And you can already hear the dogs barking. They know they're going to work. They're excited. And she's got her vest own and she's got their water, and she's got everything, and she takes time to speak to everybody to make sure she understand the layout. You know, where do you think this happened?

Where was this found? Where was that found? So that when her dogs are alerting or pulling her somewhere, she's going to understand why that possibly makes sense when I tell you I'm watching a partnership, almost like a couple ice skating. Her and her dogs are so in sync. She understands exactly what they're doing. And where it looked to me, I was gonna tell y'all, it looked to me like that first dog was pulling her, dragging her

in the woods. Trace never missed a beat or a step. Now, in Georgia in the summer, the woods get thick and we have kudzu that takes over everything, and there's briars and it's hard to make your way through any of it if you have a hatchet. Well, that dog just disappeared, and Trace disappeared right behind him. It was like nothing

I've ever seen in my life. It was like the woods just swallowed them whole, and I could hear the dog, I could hear Trace, and then I didn't hear anything for a long time, and then they both emerged out of the woods and she got ready to run the second dog. Now, Trace, tell them why at a scene like Melissa's on Avon Avenue, which is, for all purposes, a small crime scene for you to search, why is

it important to have two dogs or more? It's important to let the viewer or listeners know what inspired me to do that. It actually happened years ago. Not to get too personal, but it was part of this journey that I have been on with my dogs, and I've

had a number of dogs over the years. So if we go back to the Natalie Holloway case, which happened many years ago, I would still live in Alabama at the time, and long story short, I was on a case in Georgia and it was for a nine year old girl that had been missing form I think over

twenty years. But that day changed my life. And that was the case where Logan looking for her remains, had actually slipped down a very steep embankment and he went to the edge of the road and as a car came around, it hit him in the head and killed him instantly. It really really hit me hard because these dogs are more than just team members to me, their family. I just felt that day that I felled him. He

never felled me. He always protected me, He always protected my life because I trusted him one and that it took me a while to get over that one. But I also learned from my experience with Logan, I will never ever be without at least two, sometimes three working dogs at any one time. So, you know, it's kind of worked out for the best now it has worked out.

And from an investigative standpoint, as a crime scene investigator, when you work two dogs and both dolls go to the same area and alert and both dolls have given you the same information, then that's just a money tree, it is, and it's you know, it's the old saying that two heads are better than one. Well, two noses

are better than one. Not to say that one dog is better than the other, but it does help not only from an investigative point of view, but also from a prosecution point of view to say that this wasn't just an anomaly. This wasn't just one dog just having an interesting day. But we have not only one, but two and now three confirmed hits in the same area. So now we've got to figure out why did these

dogs do this? Is it connected to what we're looking for, does it have anything to do with the case that were involved with, or is it something totally unrelated. And you know, I was talking to Karen Greer and Dwayne Thompson the other day and I told them a couple of weeks ago, I was back on scene on Avon Avenue. And now it's almost the perfect time because it's warm, but all the leaves are gone, all the brushes back. You can see just easy walking, you know, large like

rusted type machinery and cans and bottles and mattresses. It might be a better time to search than when we originally went there. Well, Cheryl, you bring up an excellent point and one of the things I've learned over the years. Again, when I started this, I really had blinders on that. Okay, I have a dog. I got to go find something. I had to go find something. We're looking for a human, you know, that's run away. We're looking for you, a

homicide victim, we're looking for evidence. But what I've actually learned and I would say that has changed in my strategic approach to these cases, not only from the dogs perspective, but also from an investigative perspective as far as how I approach different areas, is that it's important for people.

And I share this with folks when we talk about detection dogs. They do not find bombed bodies and drugs for us. And people look at me like, well, okay, but isn't that what they're trained to do. Aren't they trained to find drugs and bombs and people? And I

would saying no, they are trained to find scent. So my mindset when I'm searching in different areas, in different cases, in different times of the year, I don't look at from the perspective of yes, okay, where would a body be or where would this be, but where would scent be?

And scent behavior changes throughout the day. So if we, let's say, search in the early morning, scent conditions can be very very different, especially here in the South in the summertime and it's very hot and humid and things like that. Scent in the middle of the day is almost non existent because the hot sun, and the heat literally zaps it. It literally kills scent. So there's a rhyme and reason of why we use these dogs in certain areas, certain times of the day, in certain times

of the year. A great example of that is that when we're working with archeology projects. These are typically the Civil War, the Revolutionary War, these other type of wars that happen one hundred and fifty two hundred years ago. We never work those in the heat because not so much the dogs can't do it. It's because if the scent is not fair, the dogs will never be able

to pick it up because it's not fair. So when we work these old historical projects or even cold cases, the time of the day in the time of the year does matter, not because of the abilities of the dog, but because of the behavior of the scent. Part of what I was hoping for on Melissa's case, obviously, is that we would alert on the torso possibly, and I knew if any two dogs could do it, it was

going to be yours. But one thing that fascinated me is your dog had its nose to the ground probably ninety percent of the time, but I noticed a couple of times his nose would go straight up in the air that particular day. If you recall, we actually started earlier in the morning and we did spend some time speaking with the family and things like that, so as we were talking, the scent conditions changed a little bit. If you think about fog, that's the best way to

kind of visually look at this for the listeners. When you see fog in the morning, it's down in the lower valleys. And if you actually watch fog as the day heats up, the fog actually lifts up. So that's a great analogy and a great example of what quote, human scent, especially cadaver scent does. It settles into the lower valleys during the evening, and as the heat of

the day rises, so does the scent rise. So that's why you see those different behaviors in a dog, as far as their nose on the ground or nose up in the air. They're telling us a story. And that's where quote my mind has to step in and this partnership is that this dog is telling us a story. And what is that story telling us? When a dog alerts or some people say, you know, he's made a hit, is because they have picked up human remains scent in

this area. However, as a dog handler and my mindset and what part of my job is is not only putting the dog in the right place, in the right area at the right time of day, but also reading the information and the story that he is telling us. And part of that story is change of behavior, or what we call cob So I've recognized over the years, I was so focused on, all right, my dog's got alert. I'm going to wait for this alert, which my dogs are trained to sit when they find scent. That's their

trained alert behavior. So I'm so focused when I started this is to say, all right, I'm looking for the alert. Is he going to sit? Is he going to say he's gonna sit? But through maturity and experience, I realized, you know, that's not the most important thing. The most

important thing is reading the whole story. So when we have quote a change of behavior, that to me is just as important, because scent, sometimes, especially in these really old cases like Melissa's, can be so fickle and so faint that that slightish quote change of behavior, the rise of the dog's head, or the change of direction in his nose or his tail, or something that in itself, maybe the only thing that the dog does that gives me some hint that he may be picking something up.

But the scent is so fickle and so faint and so difficult, and the conditions are so challenging right now, that may be the only thing he can give me. And you know it's so important. What you just mentioned about change of behavior is for me, I hammer and hammer and hammer patterns, patterns, patterns, and as soon as somebody breaks a pattern, that's my first red flag. So you're saying the opposite is also true. It could also

be a positive thing. But again, I know when we were out there at Melissa's scene, you know, your dogs were telling you all kinds of things and nothing was going to be negative. There was no failure on that day, and we all talked about it. One thing your dogs did was told us where the evidence wasn't So the whole thing was powerful for me. And I just want to ask you one more question, and I want people

to know the overall about that day. It was hot, and you were wearing your full uniform, and you were working these dogs, running basically in and out of the woods, in and out of briars, in and out of other terrain that was difficult to traverse. But at the end of it, you would run two dogs for I don't know how long you would already walk be seen yourself to familiarize yourself. But then trace you took so much

time with Melissa's mama and explained exactly what you did, exactly what the dogs told you about, exactly what they were capable of and weren't capable of. Just watching you with her, I just thought, man, this is a part of running a canine that most people probably don't know, but I thought that part was just as important. Well, I appreciate that, Cheryl. There's two parts to what you just said. When I'm working with any officials and even with family members, I can only promise them one thing.

At the end of the day, we will know more than we did at the beginning of this day. And you're right. These dogs they tell us two things. They tell us where something is and they tell us where something isn't. It's extremely rare that we take the dogs to an area and we find what we're looking for right away. It happens, and we're always anxiety when that happens. But it's rare. I have learned that knowing where something isn't can be just as important, if not even more important,

than knowing where something is. And most of these cases are not about the smoking gun, so to speak. It's about just hard dogged perseverance, determination, not giving up, leaving no stone unturned, and checking every place. Even if it's not a high priority area, at least we can mark it off the list. It's never a waste of time.

It's never, like you say, a negative thing. We now know more about this case than we did the day before, and we know she's not here, her remains aren't here, and what we're looking for is not here, and we

can move on from that. So I would say that these dogs are so much, so many things that yes, they are a partner, they are a teammate, they are a tool, but they're also investigators And like you as an investigator, myself as an investigator, and so many investigators out there, you may go through literally hundreds of tips and leads and nothing comes of it. But it's always that one tip, that one lead, and I always approach it that way. It could be this could be that

one day. So with that said and tying it back into the family whether you're getting paid for this, whether you're volunteering your time, it doesn't matter. These families deserve the very best I can give to them. These dogs. They the families deserve the very best that these dogs can give to them. And I approach every case that way because the families deserve that. I have workcases where we did find the person's loved one and we immediately have to come out and we have to give a

death notification. And it's extremely as you know, emotional, the grieving, the screaming, the hitting, the punching, the denial, the anger, the just the heartache, all of that at the same time, Cheryl, I'd rather have that any day than what I did and Melissa's case, and I've done it so many times it doesn't get any easier because you can see the expression on their face when they there's just something about a dog and they're like, oh wow, it's rentin ten,

it's Lassie, it's you know, all of these kind of heroic kind of things, and these dogs do have superpowers, and for them to see the dog and get out of the vehicle, it's almost it's like, Oh, finally, finally they're going to give the answers we're so desperately need

and deserve. It's a lot of responsibility. So I rather have the screaming and the hurting and the pain of a death notification, and I would walking out of the woods and looking at Melissa's family or any other family member and saying, I'm sorry, I wish I could give you answers. I do have answers for you, but we haven't found your loved one yet, and it's just it's heartbreaking for them, It really is. My heart really again

hurts for them. The reality is a lot of these cases do become cold, and not to say that they're not important, but there's only so much law enforcement can do. So it's really heartbreaking that these families think, well, nobody cares anymore. And I just want them to know that, yes, people still care, and God willing, as long as I can physically do this and the dogs can physically do this, we're going to continue searching for Melissa in any of

those other missing persons as long as we can. Well, you know I'm gonna call you because I'll tell you what you did that day. For me, I have a theory of what I think happened to the torso and the fact you didn't find it helped me solidify what I believe, and I think that speaks to the killer and the killer's mindset at the time. So, Trace, I cannot thank you enough for coming. I cannot thank you enough for being a part of my Zone seven for all these years and again answering the call every time

I make it to you. So I appreciate you so much and we will, I'm sure talk to you again. And y'all, I'm going to end Zone seven the way I always do with a quote from somebody in my Zone seven. This quote comes from Todd Pitchford, who's a

detection dog expert with Detection Dogs of America, and Todd says, trust your dog. I'm Cheryl McCollum and this his own seven.

Next week, Zone seven will hear from Carl Patton, the Flint River Killer, in the only way that Carl Patton can communicate with us from behind the walls of his prison cell. He will speak to us about his daughter Melissa, his crimes, his life before and after being arrested. There is no other case like this in history where the killer reaches out to law enforcement and then a nonprofit for help in solving their daughter's murder.