Missing sheriff's office K9 found dead in North Port, officials say he was hit by car

NORTH PORT, Fla. (WFLA) — A K9 with the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office was sadly found dead in North Port Monday morning. Officials determined it had been hit by a car.

The German Shepherd named ‘Edo’ spent the last two years working with the Charlotte County Sheriff’s office on patrol and in drug cases. He lived in North Port with his handler, Deputy Sean Davoli.

Officials say on Saturday night, Edo was in his kennel in the garage. Davoli left the garage door open since the weather was cool.

Davoli saw the dog at around 7:15 p.m. when he went into the garage to get some chicken wings out of a freezer. At around 8 p.m., Davoli returned and the dog was gone.

Davoli told investigators the cage door was still in the closed position.

According to the report, “Deputy Davoli was confident that K9 Edo was not able to open the door by himself. He stated he felt someone had to have opened the door for him.”

Davoli was unaware if anyone in the neighborhood had any issues with him. He also said his family would not have opened the door because he was with them cooking dinner. Davoli said Edo was a very well behaved dog and was not a “barker.”

He said Edo likely would not have barked if anyone came up to the cage.

“Understandably, their whole family has suffered a loss today as well as the entire sheriff’s office,” said CCSO Spokeswoman Katie Heck.

A massive search ensued that weekend turning up nothing. On Monday morning, a passerby found Edo dead in a wooded area, and late Monday afternoon, officials determined he had been hit by a car.

K9s are treated like fellow deputies, so in this case, an American flag was draped over his body while it was removed.

“It sounds like it was a very brief time period that the dog was left unattended, so its definitely something that is concerning as far as how the dog may have gotten out and managed to get so far away so quickly,” said CCSO spokeswoman Katie Heck.

Officials say its unclear at this time if Deputy Davoli could be reprimanded.

If you have any information to help in this case, call the North Port Police Department.