Pasco Sheriff Adds Human Remains Detection K9 To Forensics Team

LAND O' LAKES, FL -- Phi might look like a typical yellow Labrador retriever. But this 3-year-old dog has something no other lab in Tampa Bay possesses: certification as a law enforcement human remains detection K9.

K9 Phi is the only human remains detection/forensics K9 employed by a law enforcement agency in the Tampa Bay area.

Paired with forensic investigator Heidi Sievers, Phi will assist the Pasco County Sheriff's Office in finding human remains.

Phi has been with the sheriff's office for about a year but just recently received his certification as a cadaver dog.

Phi was purchased and trained using donations from the community to the Pasco Sheriff's K9 Association.

He will assist the sheriff's forensics team in crime investigations, missing persons searches and cadaver detection following disasters.

Phi is the first of several human detection dogs that the sheriff's office plans to add to its forensics team.