In December, a massive search and rescue operation was launched after a child with autism went missing in Evangeline Parish.

The 9-year-old boy was found safe after several hours of searching.

After watching this effort unfold, local dog handlers saw a need for a specialized search and rescue group. 

“We are a team of current and former law enforcement officers with canine experience and decided to put our talents together on a private basis due to the number of people disappearing lately,” said Terrell Bergeron. “It’s an upswing that we’ve never seen before. 

Bergeron is the president of Atchafalaya Search and Rescue. He’s also the father of two sons on the autism spectrum.

His team has partnered with Families Helping Families and the Autism Society of Acadiana.

They specialize in tracking and recovering missing people living with autism or special needs. 

We pitched the idea, and asked what do you think if we invest in a team to offer our services to the community,” Bergeron said. “Both organizations agreed that it is a service that’s really, really needed.” 

“I’ts really important to have something like this so that if something should happen, then we have this extra resource,” says Robyn Blackwell, with the Autism Society of Acadiana.

A 2018 study published in The Journal of Pediatrics reported that 49 percent of children with autism wander off at least once after the age of 4.

Many of these children are non-verbal and can be extremely difficult to find, the report said. 

 “There’s no rhyme to the reason sometimes, and it takes a dog to figure out the pattern of where they’ve gone,” Bergeron said. “These dogs are highly trained. They’ve been bred to track people for hundreds of years.” 

Bergeron said as parent of children on the spectrum, he hopes to be able to educate law enforcement and and other search and rescue groups how to properly handle children and adults on the spectrum.

Atchafalaya Search and Rescue also offers its services to those who have all Alzheimer’s or Dementia.