Missing Miami Beach Police K9 Found

MIAMI BEACH (CBS4) – An all night search of a west Miami-Dade neighborhood for a missing Miami Beach police dog has paid off. Rocko has been found safe and sound.

Police think the black Belgian Malinois broke free from his kennel in the backyard of the handler's home in the area of SW 149th Avenue and Coral Way on Monday night.  Rocko's handler said Rocko was more than just a police dog.

"It's a very tight bond that you have with your canine partner and if he's not there it's kind of hard to describe, you know," said Sanchez.

The five year old K9 was spotted about six blocks from his home by Alina Cabral and her son Shane Tarkalson.

"We were driving home and we saw the dog on the side of the street and my son said 'mom, hold up, I've got to pick up the dog because he's going to get run over'," said Alina Cabral.

Thinking the dog was lost, 20-year old Shane knocked on several doors to see if he could find the dog's owner.  When he had no luck, he took the dog home with him.

"I feed him some food, I gave him some water, and I let him sleep in my room, you know the whole nine yards," said Tarkalson.

Cabral said the dog slept in Shane's bed that night.

"He immediately jumped on the bed laid down and looked at me, them I laid down, watched a movie and he put his head my chest and just went to sleep," said Tarkalson.

Nearly two dozen officers, human and K-9, searched for Rocko, a bomb detection and criminal apprehension dog, throughout the night.

After hearing about the search for Rocko, the teen's mother contacted police.

Rocko was then reunited Sanchez.

"I'm so happy, it's unexplainable," said Sanchez, "That's how happy I am."

Sanchez added that he was happy to hear that Rocko got the royal treatment at Cabral's home but now that his partner is back home there are going to be some new rules to keep this from happening in the future.