Meet Duke: The remarkable K-9 helping catch child predators in Frederick County

Meet Duke: The remarkable K-9 helping catch child predators in Frederick County

Inside the Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office, Investigator Justin Walters works alongside a partner he calls an "unsung hero." His name is Duke, and he's a dog, but isn’t a typical police K-9. FOX 5's Sydney Persing explains. 

FREDERICK - Inside the Frederick County State’s Attorney’s Office, Investigator Justin Walters works alongside a partner he calls an "unsung hero."

His name is Duke, and he's a dog. 

But Duke isn’t a typical police K-9. He doesn’t search for narcotics, track missing persons, or investigate arson scenes. Instead, Duke is trained to detect something much smaller — hidden electronic storage devices like cell phones, laptops, SD cards and flash drives.

Duke is what’s known as an Electronic Storage Detection (ESD) K-9. He’s specially trained to sniff out a chemical compound found inside digital storage devices — triphenylphosphine oxide, or TPPO — allowing him to locate electronics even when they’re powered off, dismantled, or carefully concealed.

"How crazy is that, that a dog can smell these things?" Walters said.

The skill is critical in child exploitation investigations, where suspects often go to great lengths to hide devices containing illegal material.

The details:

Duke came to Maryland by way of "Our Rescue," a nonprofit focused on combating child exploitation and trafficking. The organization says it has trained and provided nearly 150 ESD K-9s to law enforcement agencies across 38 states and seven countries, including Canada, parts of Asia, and Latin America.

According to CEO Derek Benner,  locating tiny storage devices can be one of the most challenging parts of an investigation.

"Trying to find these tiny little devices is difficult," Benner said. "Unfortunately, the problem isn’t getting better — it’s getting worse."

Benner said about 80% of the time the dogs are deployed, they uncover additional evidence investigators did not initially find.

And the hiding places can be shockingly creative.

Storage devices have been discovered in ceiling tiles, soda cans, books, food containers — even coffee makers.

During a demonstration to Fox 5, Duke quickly located an SD card hidden inside a Keurig machine, a laptop tucked into a seat cushion, and a cell phone concealed behind a television.

But Duke’s job doesn’t stop at detection.

Dig deeper:

Our Rescue’s ESD dogs are also trained therapy animals. They provide comfort to child victims during searches and offer support to investigators who are regularly exposed to disturbing material.

"He’s more than just a cute dog — he’s in the trenches with us," Walters said.

Investigators who work child exploitation cases often carry the emotional toll of what they see.

"You try not to take that stuff home with you, but it really does," Walters said. "It does help."

Duke has helped remove dozens of offenders from the community and played a role in rescuing dozens of children. Still, Walters says Duke doesn’t understand the weight of his work.

"To him, it’s a game," Walters said.

But Walters hopes the community recognizes the impact.

"I hope they remember him as a loving dog that helped keep children safe in the community."

What's next:

Our Rescue helps cover the dogs’ medical bills, food and training costs. While Benner is proud of the growth their program has had, he said the demand is growing, and more departments than ever need 'Dukes' of their own. 

To learn more about the organization’s work and how to help, visit OurRescue.org.