OGDEN, Utah — The 9/11 terror attacks were a dark day for the nation, and a heartbreaking memory. One woman from Utah went to work days after the attack to bring closure to families whose lives had changed forever.
Nancy Hachmeister was at Ground Zero 25 years with her dog, Ivey.
For 44 years, Hachmeister, who lives in Ogden, has trained and been a handler for search dogs. Her non-profit is called Utah Search Dogs, which started in 2008.
Her works has taken her all over the country to help with rescue and recovery efforts, and locating missing people or bodies. She also went to New York 25 years ago, with her dog Ivey. They were part of Utah Task Force 1, helping with recovery efforts at Ground Zero.
Hachmeister said they were there for seven days, and she and Ivey worked the night shift. They were searching the area and helping crews look through the rubble.
"She [Ivey] didn’t do her indication on the human remains, but I could see, reading her body language and changes in behavior that there was something there,” Hachmeister recalled. “So we ended up finding numerous bodies.”
She has made it her mission to try to help other families find lost loved ones and get closure. "All through my career, if I find a body or something, it does bring closure, I know how that important that is,” she added.
Because of a tragedy years ago. "I’m trying to think how many years, in ‘79, my father was killed and missing, for 33 days," Hachmeister said.
She said after the September 11 attacks, she remembers watching everyone come together and do what they needed to. "They all would say, ‘oh, you’re such a hero,’ calling us heroes, we weren’t the heroes,” Hachmeister said. “It was those firemen that went into the building to try to rescue people, those were the real heroes.”
Ivey passed away a few years later. "On the task force had several people die of cancer related to that,” Hachmeister said. “And all 4 four dogs that went to New York, all died of cancer,” she said.
Hachmeister said she hopes to continue helping families find their loved ones, and embody the spirit of the days after the attacks.
"If everyone could be as nice as we were on September 12,” she said.
