Trine’s Cold Case Unit hosts Indiana Search and Response Team CHAT event
October 09, 2024
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Jan Harkner-Abbs, CEO of the Indiana Search and Response Team, speaks to Trine University
students at an event on Sept. 26.By Faith Fegley English ’25
On Thursday, Sept. 26, Trine University’s Cold Case Unit hosted a CHAT event with
the Indiana Search and Response Team (ISART).
The event featured a team of investigators and police dogs from ISART. They educated
those in attendance on the training methods used to train search and rescue dogs when
working on investigations for missing persons, live searching, and cadaver recovery
efforts.
“Students learned that each dog on the team specializes in searching certain types
of scenes that range from arson [and] fire scenes, cadaver scenes, missing person
scenes or live-find scenes, and in drowning scenes,” stated Erica Hutton, Ph.D., assistant
professor of criminal justice at Trine.
“We were able to learn about the science of scent in canines that are used in law
enforcement investigations,” continued Hutton, “[as well as] the types of mechanisms
used for training canines for scene searches alike.”
Hutton received the opportunity for ISART to speak on campus through previous training
with ISART on campus for a youth career camp. The team worked with the Indiana State
Police to train local youth in basic safety techniques.
Trine students also have the ability to enroll in the Cold Case Unit program on campus
and applications are accepted throughout the year for review. The program gives students
the opportunity to work on unsolved criminal cases in the region and it is open to
all majors on campus.
The event had a turnout of 70 students, as well as a Trine alumnus and coach. Students
also had the opportunity to meet the rescue dogs after the event.
Whodunit? It’s a question board game players have asked for decades, and Trine Theatre patrons will have the opportunity to make their own deductions when “Clue” takes the Ryan Concert Hall stage of the T. Furth Center for Performing Arts.
Steuben County community members are invited to join Trine University students and alumni and local businesses for Breaking the Silence Together, the university's inaugural mental health walk, beginning at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26.
In a new episode of the TrineLine podcast, now online, Tony Kline, Ph.D., president of Trine University, discusses the positive happenings at Trine University this fall semester, the new facilities on campus, the role of athletics in the student experience and the importance of the relationship between the university and the Angola community.