I was in Plymouth MN this past weekend when my daughter and I decided to take in the movie Max. It was a great movie topped off with an even better surprise in the lobby.

After the show we spotted Jake Schneider and his two year old German Shepard Mia in the lobby of the movie theater. Two things I immediately noticed about Mia was her loyalty to her human, and the purple number 14 patch on her rescue vest. Which came with a story of tragedy and inspiration.

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Mia, a two year old search and rescue German Shepard
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In 2013 when Jake Schneider's neighbor Mandy Matula went missing Jake was involved in the walking search for her. The search ended nearly 6 months later in tragedy after a hiker discovered the body of Matula.

Matula's father, Wayne Matula, said authorities found in the same wooded area a tattered portion of a University of Minnesota-Duluth warmup jacket with No. 14 embroidered on it. Matula graduated from UMD in 2011, and her softball jersey from the school was No. 14 -- a number that had stuck with her since her birth on Jan. 14, her father said. twincities.com

Jake decided he wanted to get a search and rescue dog and train it to aid in the search of lost and missing people.

Jake researched breeders and decided on a German Shepard he named Mia. Jake and Mia joined North Star Search and Rescue and Mia wears the purple 14 patch on her search and rescue vest in memory of Mandy.

North Star Search and Rescue Chief Diane Stefack told me the group responds to on average two calls per week. The team assists Sheriffs Departments and other law enforcement agencies to locate as many missing or lost people as possible.

According to their website some 10,000 people go missing in Minnesota every year. North Star Search and Rescue has been serving Minnesota and the five state region since 1989. They are on call 24 hours a day,365 days a year.

For more information about this incredible group or to help support them click here.

 

Source: Twincities.com

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