K-9 Hero ‘Meatball’ Helps Police Rescue Missing Child from Merrimac Swamp

A K-9 named Meatball is credited for helping police officers locate a missing boy stuck in a Massachusetts swamp on Friday evening, May 16.

The 7-year-old child was reported missing from his Merrimac home just after 7:30 p.m. First responders from Merrimac and Amesbury commenced an "intensive search" of the area. 

According to 7 News Boston, resources from the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC) and the Massachusetts State Police were initially deployed but later canceled once the child was located.

Eventually, police officers and a K-9 police dog named Meatball found the boy about a mile from his home, stuck "in a swampy marsh, waist-deep in water, and unable to move out of the mud," police said. Officers extracted the boy from the mud pit and used drones to guide the rescue teams out of the woods. 

"Had this child not been located this quickly, I fear our community might have faced a tragic outcome," Merrimac Police Chief Eric Shears said in a statement shared with CBS News Boston.

Police said the boy was transported to a local hospital for evaluation and released. His mother said the boy is doing well now.

"We train together for moments such as this, hoping we would never need to answer this type of call," Amesbury Police Chief Craig Bailey told CBS News Boston. "Ultimately, Officer Nichols' track with K-9 Meatball and the support during the track by Officer Hewey and Officer Ryan DeVaney led to this positive outcome."

K-9 Meatball is partnered with Officer Tommy Nichols of the Amesbury police force. Meatball, who turned 5 years old in January, joined the police force in 2022.