Lexington County, SC 01/24/2025 (Paul Kirby) – Citizens across Lexington County are joining Sheriff Jay Koon and his staff in mourning a faithful and dedicated K-9 officer, bloodhound Autumn, after she died following a short illness. Autumn, age 8, had been serving Lexington County for 8 years.
According to the department’s social media pages, Autumn became suddenly ill last week. The department sought medical attention but unfortunately, she passed away earlier this week. The post did not specify what killed Autumn.
Autumn was unique in that she was a bloodhound while the majority of K-9s used by the department are Belgium Malinois. The bloodhounds are not normally bite trained and are primarily dogs who track humans. Autumn was acquired by the department in 2017, she received special training that included tracking mainly missing or lost children and vulnerable adults. In the years that followed, she completed 544 deployments.
Residents of Lexington County showed they were also hurting, sharing the post regarding Autumn’s death on Facebook more than 240 times in just 4 hours and commenting with messages of condolences more than 170 times. The Sheriff’s Department has not said whether there will be a time for department personnel or the community to come together for a memorial service honoring Autumn's life.
