ST. JOHN, N.D. (Valley News Live) – A missing 16-year-old female from St. John in Rolette County was found safe Tuesday after North Dakota Highway Patrol canines tracked her to the west side of town.

The juvenile was last seen the night before, Monday.

Six members of the North Dakota Highway Patrol Emergency Response Team responded with mantrailing canines, Gary and Lorace. Three additional troopers supported the search.

Both canines were deployed in the St. John area and trailed from the juvenile’s home to a location on the west side of St. John. A follow-up search by K9 Gary in the area resulted in the juvenile being located safe and unharmed.

“It’s a really nice benefit of our dogs, is not only can they follow a trail when it’s there, but they can tell us when there’s not a trail,” said Trooper Steven Clark of the North Dakota Highway Patrol. He is also Lorace’s K9 Handler.

“By going farther down the road, both dogs said, ‘No, she hadn’t been here.’ We kind of felt that we should go back to that last area where we were and maybe she was in the area.”

Trooper Nevon Heisler, and K9 Gary’s Handler, spoke on how vital K9s can be:

“Just brings everything full circle. Like we train really hard, we work really hard. Even though we don’t find somebody on every trail we do, usually it ends up mid-trail or we direct people ahead of us and they find the person. In this case, it was Gary. I had to like use every part of me to stop him from going up to her. She was scared of the dog, Gary wanted to get to her because that’s how he’s trained is to get to the person.”

Missing persons in North Dakota

Last year, North Dakota had a 98% closure rate on missing persons cases. More than 1,300 missing persons reports were filed across the state.

The state says 984 people were reported missing with just over 400 being recurring missing persons cases. Currently, there are still 21 people unaccounted for.

All missing persons cases in North Dakota can be found on the Office of the Attorney General’s website.

The North Dakota Highway Patrol said agencies and organizations assisted with the search, including the Turtle Mountain Bureau of Indian Affairs, Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians Police Department, Rolla Fire, St. John Fire, Belcourt Fire, Rolette County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Border Patrol.

The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians Tribal Council, Turtle Mountain Missing Indigenous Persons local chapter and Turtle Mountain Horse Nation Search and Rescue also assisted with the search.

Highway Patrol said searches like this one can start with one phone call, and early reporting can help bring loved ones home.

MOORHEAD, N.D. (Valley News Live) – Customers are stopping by Mango’s Mexican and American Grill before the Moorhead restaurant closes its doors on May 25.

Loyal diners from both sides of the border are making sure they get a final visit in at the restaurant, which announced its closure earlier this week.

“I was glad I was going to be in town so I could stop in,” said Cassandra Miller. “I needed my Mango’s fix.”

Cassandra Miller said the restaurant has built a strong customer base across the region, and she expects the final days to be busy.

“They have a huge following from both Minnesota and North Dakota, so it’ll probably be very packed here, and it will be a great sendoff for them,” she said.

Her husband, John Miller, said he was surprised by how quickly the closure is happening but hopes the owners have plans to reopen elsewhere.

“I was a little surprised that they didn’t take very long for them to close down, but it’s probably for, you know, good reason,” John Miller said. “Hope you guys open up somewhere else so we can enjoy your food.”

Customer Donna Miller said her favorite item on the menu is shrimp.

The owners are not available this week but are inviting customers to stop by before the final day of service on May 25.

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – After several recent apartment fires in Bismarck-Mandan, a volunteer group is helping families rebuild.

North Dakota Lions Emergency Relief has been helping families affected by apartment fires in the Bismarck-Mandan area since 2019. The non-profit is still in need of volunteers and financial donations while it works to get fire victims closer to normal.

Coordinator Patty Barrette said the focus is on more than immediate needs.

“So our goal is not to just get them through today and tomorrow. Obviously that’s very, very important, but we want them to think long term. We want to try to help everyone get as close to normal as we can,” Barrette said.

The organization is positioned to help 150 people in the first 48 hours after a disaster with clothing, hygiene supplies, bedding and household basics.

Once families find a place to stay, volunteers help them prepare for the months ahead by providing winter clothing and other essentials they may not think about in the moment.

“We have people that can kind of have been through this before either personally or have been part of our organization. They can sit down and say, okay, you know, what size underwear do you need? What size socks do you need?” Barrette said.

Barrette said helping families through traumatic situations can also weigh heavily on volunteers.

“We get the residual trauma. And so I have to monitor the team, make sure that they’re doing okay too, because there’s a lot we’re dealing with. You get a lot of tears coming in,” Barrette said.

Clothing and household donations are temporarily paused because of the overwhelming community response.

The group said financial donations, gift cards and volunteers are still needed to support families. Donations are helping families impacted by the Alberta Heights and Kirkwood Park fires.

The volunteer-run group said the first week after a disaster often brings a strong response, but as time goes on, families are still rebuilding and the need for help continues.

The group is looking for drivers, sorters, intake takers and bilingual volunteers. One-shift commitments are welcome.

One hundred percent of donations go through the North Dakota Lions Emergency Relief fund. More information is available on the group’s Facebook page.