Florida officer "forgets" his TWO K9 partners; leaves them to cook to death in hot vehicle

FLORIDA -- Davie police are investigating how a Hialeah police officer's two K-9 dogs died inside his SUV.

The K-9s – Jimmy, 7, a Bloodhound, and Hector, 4, a Belgian Malinois, were assigned to Hialeah Police Officer Nelson Enriquez. He has worked 13 years with the department and was a K-9 officer for the past seven years, his agency said.

The dead animals were discovered at 6:50 p.m. Wednesday in Enriquez's marked SUV in the driveway of his home in west Davie, Davie Police Sgt. Pablo Castaneda said.

Enriquez apparently left the K9s in his SUV Wednesday morning when he returned home after completing his midnight shift, his agency said.

Jimmy retrieves his favorite toy, a stick, thrown by his partner
Officer Nelson Enriquez. The bloodhound was one of two dogs
found dead in the officer's police vehicle. Allison Diaz - Miami Herald file

"The Hialeah Police Department is extremely saddened by this unfortunate occurrence and every effort will be made to determine the cause of this terrible tragedy which claimed the lives of two very beloved members of our Hialeah police family," Hialeah Police Sgt. Carl Zogby said in a press release issued Wednesday night. "Officer Enriquez is relieved of duty pending the outcome of the investigation."

Hialeah police officials are scheduled to hold a news conference late Thursday morning.

Davie's Sgt. Castaneda said Enriquez notified Davie police of the grim discovery.

"We're investigating this just like any other animal crime," Castaneda said.

The animals and the SUV were removed from Enriquez's property.

Jimmy the Bloodhound was donated to the agency by the Jimmy Ryce Center.

Jimmy Ryce was nine when he was abducted, raped and murdered while walking to his southwest Miami-Dade home in 1995.

His parents, Don and Claudine Ryce, created the Center to provide free bloodhounds to police departments.

Jimmy is led out of the police car by his partner
Officer Nelson Enriquez in 2011.
Photo: Allison Diaz- Miami Herald file

Don Ryce released a statement Thursday that said he was "deeply saddened to learn of the tragic death of two remarkable police dogs" and that he hoped, with the help of the public, that the Center could raise funds to replace the dogs.

Police use bloodhounds for their ability to track scents. The Ryces have long maintained that if a bloodhound was used in their son's case, he may have been recovered alive.

Jimmy Ryce's killer, farmhand Juan Carlos Chavez, was executed by lethal injection in Florida State Prison on February 12, 2014.

(Sun Sentinel - May 28, 2015)