Investigators are using specially trained animals as they search for clues in the search for a missing teenager.
Red Rock Search and Rescue has been looking for Macin Smith since the 18-year-old went missing last September while he was still a minor.
Now, team members now have about a dozen horses and dogs to help them.
Danny B. Southwell, the animal rescue team's coordinator, says the animals expand the search because they don't have the physical limitations humans have. Their noses are more effective and they work faster.
"You can be up on top of the horse to clear areas and you're just a lot higher and a lot more visible," Southwell said. "If you know how to read your horse, a horse is going to tell you where a dead body is too because they're a fight-or-flight animal."
The team is about a month old and growing.
So far, they have one dog and handler here in Las Vegas and four more in Southern California.
There are also seven horses and riders in the valley plus a handful of volunteers up in St. George, Utah.
It can take weeks, or even months, of expensive training for each animal to get properly certified for rescue work.
Donations to Red Rock Search and Rescue are always welcomed.
