Cleveland Police Springer Spaniel who 'doesn’t give up' wins award after role in finding Middlesbrough woman Annie Dryden
A stray spaniel who joined the police and became Cleveland’s first Victim Recovery Dog went on to help bring answers to six bereaved families searching for missing loved ones, and even saved a woman’s life.
Springer spaniel PD Jasper, seven, has received an award from the Thin Blue Paw Foundation – a charity that supports working and retired police dogs across the UK – for one particular job in which he helped find the body of 20-year-old Annie Dryden, who had been missing for four months, after he and his handler, PC Liam Sewell, went to search in a neighbouring county on their day off.
Annie’s mother, Mary, has now praised the dog and constable for their “selflessness and dedication”, which “brought me comfort and a way to say goodbye to Annie”.
Jasper – who was rescued by Dog’s Trust Darlington as a stray – joined Cleveland Police at two, as the force’s first Victim Recovery Dog and partnered with experienced dog handler and instructor PC Sewell.
During their five-year career, the duo has located the bodies of six people, helping to bring answers and closures to their bereaved families.
PC Sewell, 48, from Middlesbrough, said: “When you manage to locate someone you’re happy and proud that your dog has done their job but you know that, unfortunately, that barking has just extinguished any hope the family had of their loved one walking through their front door.”
They were named winners of the Thin Blue Paw Beyond Duty Award – for going beyond the call of duty to find a woman’s body while searching out of their area on their day off – after being nominated by their training manager for this particularly tough job.
Nominating the pair, Sgt James Grieves said Liam and Jasper’s partnership was built on 'trust, instinct, and an unwavering commitment to those who need them most’, bringing ‘answers, dignity, and hope to countless families facing the darkest moments of their lives’.
He added: “PD Jasper’s extraordinary tenacity, his refusal to stop searching when others would have reached their limit, is matched only by the compassion and determination of his handler.”
In January 2024, Annie Dryden, 20, went missing from her home in Middlesbrough.
Despite exhaustive searches by police, air ambulance, mountain rescue and others, there had been no sign of her after CCTV captured her getting off a train at Battersby Station in the North York Moors National Park.
PC Sewell said: “I’d helped with the search initially and had kept an eye on Annie’s case but hadn’t been involved for some months.
“We then received a call from a colleague at North Yorkshire Police, who had taken over the case. She asked if Jasper and I could assist with a search.
“The area – Battersby Woods - was miles and miles of hilly, wooded terrain and it was thick with vegetation. She wanted to know how long it could take us to search so before my meeting with her I decided, one weekend, on a day off, to go over and walk the perimeter and recce the area so I could get a feel for it myself.
“My wife, Daniela, and I took Jasper for a walk in the area and started to follow some of the local footpaths through the trees.
“I was stood up on the top of a ravine when I heard Jasper barking. Initially I thought maybe Daniela was playing with him and he was barking with excitement but when I found him he was stood still, barking at an area of thick undergrowth; he’d found her.”
PC Sewell and PD Jasper received a Chief Constable’s Commendation for their work to locate Annie’s body which had lay undisturbed for almost four months.
“Mountain rescue had searched the area but she was so hidden,” PC Sewell said. “There’s no way we’d have found her without Jasper.”
Annie’s mother, Mary Dryden, said: “It was such a difficult time when Annie went missing. The searches kept some hope alive but this dwindled as time went on.
“The police officer assigned to support me, PC Lisa Jones, spent a lot of time searching for Annie and always felt more could be done. It was Lisa who sought more support from the dog unit which led to Liam and Jasper searching the woods and finding Annie.
“Annie was found on private land which, due to the kindness and understanding of the landowners, I have been able to visit. It is such a peaceful place and being there helps me feel connected to Annie. I have often tried to imagine what it must have been like for her in those last moments and what drew her to that place. Also, what it must have been like for Liam and Jasper to find her.
“Annie was a free spirit who loved the woods and trees. She also loved dogs. When I visit the site, I always see a robin who comes down to whistle and sing.
“Amongst all the tragedy and grief, the selflessness and dedication of Liam and Jasper brought me comfort and a way to say goodbye to Annie.
“I would sincerely like to thank Liam and Jasper for locating and helping to bring closure to me and my family. I am pleased they have been recognised and rewarded.”
The pair received the Beyond Duty Award at the Thin Blue Paw Awards, sponsored by Animal Friends Pet Insurance, held at The Kennel Club in London on Tuesday, organised by the Foundation to recognise and celebrate the incredible work of police dogs.
Thin Blue Paw Founder Kieran Stanbridge said: “Victim recovery dogs like Jasper have such an important job; bringing peace and dignity to the victims themselves, but also bringing answers and closure to families at the most heartbreaking times in their lives.
“Jasper has helped six families reunite with their loved-ones so they’ve been able to lay them to rest. And, even more surprisingly, he’s also helped to save the life of a vulnerable woman.
“The work he and PC Sewell have done during their four-year career is astounding and they are very worthy winners of our Beyond Duty Award, which seeks to honour those who go above and beyond the call of duty to carry out their role, and whose work has had a lasting impact on families in their community.
“It is down to PC Sewell and PD Jasper’s professionalism, doggedness and skill that Annie was found and that her family go to say ‘goodbye’. The different their work has made to Annie’s family, and that of all those other families, is beyond words.”
Jasper, who is a trained Forensics Dog and Victim Recovery Dog, and despite not yet being trained to search for people who may have drowned, his work has led to the recovery of two bodies from water.
PC Sewell’s supervisor James added: “PC Sewell has shown compassion, humility, and a selfless dedication to his role. His actions reflect the highest ideals of policing — humanity, service, and the courage to keep searching when others have no strength left.
"As PD Jasper approaches retirement in September 2026, he does so having changed lives, brought comfort to grieving families, and served with a devotion that will never be forgotten.”
Jasper is due to re-train as an Oscar Kilo 9 wellbeing dog, supporting police officers dealing with trauma, upon retirement.
PC Sewell said: “Jasper is a cracking little dog. He just doesn’t give up. As a handler searching for victims you have to be positive and always think that you’re going to find someone around the next corner; and you need a dog who will match that energy and keeps working.”
Just a few weeks before collecting his award, PD Jasper helped to find a vulnerable elderly woman who’d gone missing from her home.
PC Sewell – who has been a police officer for more than 20 years, spending 14 years within the dog unit – said: “She’d been missing for about 20 hours and I’d been called in to help with the control of a dog in a property that officers were searching. I reminded the officers that Jasper could help with the search and, later, they asked us to search a nearby cemetery and woodland.
“Jasper started barking and I found the little lady curled up in a ball. She’d been laying there all night in the bushes and, thankfully, Jasper had been able to locate her safely. He helped to save her life.”