An autistic child was found in Spring.
Hades, who works under handler Deputy Daniela Palacios as part of a specialized search unit, has become something of a fixture in recent Harris County search efforts, according to prior reporting from Hoodline.
Hades's Training
Hades is trained in scent-discrimination tracking, a skill set the dog developed at the Georgia K9 National Training Center specifically to locate missing individuals with autism, Alzheimer's disease and dementia, Hoodline has reported. The Texas Department of Public Safety notes that the state's Endangered Missing Persons Alert system exists for people diagnosed with an intellectual disability or a pervasive developmental disorder, including autism-spectrum-related conditions, according to materials from the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Hades's breed has been described differently across coverage: Hoodline has called the dog a Hanoverian and Plott Hound, while a report tied to a September search in northwest Harris County described Hades as a bloodhound. Fox 26 Houston has reported that Hades can track scents for four to six miles and called the dog the first of its kind in the region.
A Pattern of Fast Finds Across Harris County
This is not the first time Hades has helped close out a search quickly. In September, the dog was involved in locating 12-year-old Gavin Boker, who was found safely and returned home in northwest Harris County. Separately, a constable K-9 identified as Hades tracked down missing 10-year-old Bryan Tate within just 10 minutes on the ground, with K-9 units and drone teams assisting, according to a report from ABC13; deputies found Tate hiding in a wooded area and officials confirmed he was safe.
Earlier reporting from Hoodline also noted that Hades had located a missing child hidden in a dense Harris County wooded area within 10 minutes of deployment in April, again working alongside drone support. And on a single Sunday in September, the dog helped find both a missing 17-year-old autistic boy in Cypress and a woman who never returned from a walk at Jesse H. Jones Park in Humble, with the woman later found in good condition and reunited with her group at Pundt Park.
The Scale of Harris County's Missing-Persons Caseload
Cases like this one are not isolated. Harris County law enforcement agencies logged 6,357 missing-child reports in 2025, representing more than 20% of all juvenile missing-person entries recorded statewide, per the same Hoodline account.
