MERIDIAN TOWNSHIP - To the dogs it's just a game, but in reality it's a serious matter of life and death. These dogs are being trained to find missing persons and human remains.

At Central Park South, clues were planted throughout the trail to simulate a murder mystery, using knives, bloodied bed sheets and a human dummy. The dogs are trained using treats and play as a reward. They are let off leash and use their advanced sense of smell to find the items hidden in the underbrush. The dogs must be at least 5 months old to qualify to begin training.

The K-9 One Search and Rescue is a volunteer rescue team that families can call to help find people who are lost. Kym Roldan, one of the K-9 One Search and Rescue members, says any dog has the potential to be a search and rescue dog.

"We test them when they are young," says Roldan, "to see if they have the capabilities to do certain things that helps us to be able to form the dog into what we need them to be."

Roldan says they have dogs that search for human remains, trailing dogs and a disaster dog. The dogs they trained last Saturday now have the skills they need to find missing people.

These dogs are ready to be deployed and help police departments across Michigan to find lost persons, such as children, Alzheimer's patients and hunters.