A Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension dog trained to sniff out electronics helped crack open a case that ended with a 13-year prison sentence, after investigators say the suspect tried to hide his cell phones from them. K-9 Sota, the agency's electronic storage detection dog, located cell phones that Cody Williamson had hidden in a storage room as investigators executed a search warrant at his Clarks Grove home.
According to a Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Facebook post, investigators had already searched Williamson's bedroom before turning to Sota to track down additional evidence. The case involved child sexual abuse material, and Williamson was ultimately sentenced to 13 years in prison on those charges. The BCA summed up the find simply in its post: “Hidden evidence. Found by Sota.”
How an Electronics-Sniffing Dog Works
Sota is trained to find cell phones, computers, and other electronic devices, skills the BCA says become especially valuable when suspects try to conceal digital evidence during a search. The agency's electronic-detection dogs are known to locate items like USB drives, external hard drives, SD cards and microSD cards in addition to phones, per KFIL Radio. As of earlier this month, the outlet reported Sota was still actively working in that specialty, a role in which she was Minnesota's first.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety lists Sota alongside K-9 Luna among the BCA's dogs trained to detect electronic devices. These specialized K-9s support investigations across Minnesota, with the station's report noting their skills are made available to law enforcement agencies statewide rather than kept to a single department.
A Growing Tool in Digital Evidence Cases
Cases like Williamson's highlight how investigators are increasingly relying on scent-detection dogs to find small, easily hidden devices that might otherwise go unnoticed during a search. Sota's find in the storage room, after a bedroom search had already been completed, underscores how suspects attempting to stash electronics in less obvious locations can still be caught. The BCA has not released additional details about the warrant or the broader circumstances of the case beyond what it shared in its announcement.
