TOOELE COUNTY, Utah -- A sharp-nosed K9 is responsible for finding an endangered and missing child in Tooele Saturday.
After the boy's father, Richard Mamales, had altercation with the boy’s mother Friday night, the father took the 5 year old and threatened to kill him. The man then disappeared for the night.
Samantha Mamales is Richard’s daughter, and she spoke about the suspect.
“He’s a very toxic person,” she said. “You know he gets on this drug, and no filter, emotion no nothing. He thinks he can take on the world.”
Tooele police received a call Friday night that a domestic dispute had occurred at a home where Richard Mamales stays with his daughters, Tiffany and Samantha.
Mamales shares custody of his 5-year-old son, Derek, and often brings him to that home on weekends, but Friday night the boy’s mother sensed some erratic behavior and tried to take the boy home.
“He does drugs so much that it’s constantly a fight, there’s no co-parenting with him,” Samantha said.
Alan Honsaker and “Max” the bloodhound have been finding missing children in Utah for more than eight years. Anytime a child goes missing, Utah’s Child Abduction Response Team is activated, and officers from various agencies come to help. Honsaker is a member of South Salt Lake’s K9 unit who responds as part of the response team.
“He gets called out on the initial CART activation, so once we know where the child was last seen he can take his dog there and track to try to find the child,” said Patty Reed, who is the Utah Attorney General’s Office CART Coordinator.
It was around noon Saturday that Max the bloodhound tracked Mamales and his son to a shed not far from the Tooele home where they were last seen.
“Max was able to walk into the track at that point and take me to where the suspect was hiding,” Honsaker said.
Police are unsure of what charges Mamales may face at this point, as the investigation remains open.
“We’ll screen the case for the alleged treats and other concerns we may have having the boy out all night,” said Capt. Paul Wimmer of the Tooele Police Department. “We’ll look at any and all charges that may be applicable to the case.”
