Strange dog in video from Fresno home was missing K-9 officer

A Fresno woman was baffled to see a unfamiliar dog in video from her home — and then was surprised to find out hours later that he was a missing police dog.

Meanwhile, he hung out with her own dog and even went on a walk with them.

The adventure of Odin, a K-9 officer with the Madera County Sheriff’s Office, began around 4 a.m. Sunday. Video from the Fresno home where he lives with his handler showed the 3-year-old Belgian Malinois climbing on top of his kennel and jumping from there over the yard’s 6-foot fence.

By 8:30, Odin’s deputy partner realized he was gone, and the office put out a public call for sightings.

That morning, Camryn Escoto made a Facetime call to check in with her uncle, who was watching her Fresno home while she was in Bakersfield. She told the Fresno Bee that as her uncle gave her an update on her German shepherd, she noticed another dog in the yard. “I’m like, who’s that?” she said.

The unfamiliar dog was still hanging around when Escoto got home that evening. She posted a notice to NextDoor and after she got back from walking her own dog — whose new companion slipped out the gate and came along with them — she found responses suggesting she had found the deputy’s dog.

Around 10 p.m., she called the sheriff’s office, and Odin was reunited with his handler. Escoto’s house is about 5 miles from theirs.

The sheriff’s office issued a statement thanking Escoto for her “swift response” and the community for reporting sightings and spreading the word about Odin.