About Us

Diana Bzik
President/Treasurer/Co-founder
201-410-9427
dianap.bzik@gmail.com

K9 Handler: Certified with K9 "Sage" in the following disciplines:
Live find (air-scent/wide area search)

Diana Bzik is currently the President and co-founder of our team. She has been in search and rescue since 2006 and has a well rounded diverse background as K9 handler, land searcher, mountain rescue unit member, and EMT. Diana has also served as the Vice Chair and board member of the Search and Rescue Council of NJ and also K9 committee Chair. Diana has experience training and certifying dogs in a variety of disciplines including: Live Find, Cadaver, and Water Recovery. K9 Sage is her current operational dog she has certified in live find and is working towards his certification in human remains detection and water recovery. Diana has also been a positive re-enforcement pet dog trainer since 2005 teaching private lessons and group classes to pet dog owners. In her professional career, Diana has been an IT digital project manager for over 20+ years. Her planning, technical, and leadership experience has crossed over to the SAR world where Diana has been instrumental in helping to plan, coordinate, and promote our seminars and public relation events, as well as liaison with the public and agencies.

Robert Langendoen
Vice President / Co-founder
973-919-6713
rexlange@msn.com

K9 Handler: Certified with K9 "Spark" in the following disciplines:
Human Remains Detection

Bob is currently the vice president of Specialty K9 SAR and air-scent and Wilderness Recovery evaluator for NY State Federation of Search and Rescue Teams and Search and Rescue Council of New Jersey. He comes to us with about 40 years of K9 handler/search and rescue dog training and scent detection experience. Since 1986, Bob has trained, handled and certified 8 previous K9s in the disciplines of Live Find (air-scent), Human Remains Detection, and water recovery. He has assisted in numerous high-profile recoveries and assisted at Freshkill Landfill during 9/11. He has been featured in numerous investigative television shows including Geraldo at Large. He has been featured in numerous other publications such as "Unearthing a Serial Killer", "Search and Rescue Dogs - Training Methods (ARDA)", "Search and Rescue Dogs - Training the K9 Hero (ARDA)", "New Owners Guide to German Shepherds ", "The Complete German Shepherd " and other article publications in Off Lead magazine, and Newspaper issues.

In addition to his K9 handler training knowledge and experience, we are fortunate to have Bob's expertise and instruction in the areas of Navigation (Map & Compass), GPS, Digital Mapping, Lost Person Behavior, K9 Search Planning Strategies and Area Coverage. He is our on-team trainer for land searcher skills, equipment, navigation, GPS, digital mapping and he is a certified search manager (NASAR MLPI). Bob also serves as an instructor for NASAR SAR Tech II, and has instructed also for Northeast Mountain Guiding.

We are also very lucky to have Bob's creative handy skills for devising scent detection training tools such as scent boxes, snorkels and tubes for K9 imprinting training and indication protocols. If you have any interest in Bob's scent detection training tool kits for both land and water, please don't hesitate to reach out to him. Bob has a great passion for these types of innovations.

Bob and K9 Sparky are in the process of working towards their water recovery certification.

Sue Lavoie
Secretary / Co-founder
973-919-6713

K9 Handler: Certified with K9 "Willie" in the following disciplines:
Human Remains Detection

Sue Lavoie, is a seasoned handler, with almost 40 years of dog training, search and rescue, and scent detection experience. She is currently the training director and secretary for Specialty K9 Search and Recovery and the Vice Chair of NYS Federation of Search and Rescue Teams. Since 1986, Sue has operated and certified 7+ search dogs in the disciplines of Area/Wide Area Search, Human Remains Detection, Water Recovery. She has assisted in numerous recoveries throughout her SAR career, including recoveries in Freshkills Landfill during 9/11. Sue has been a professional dog trainer since 1981 and a bed bug detection dog handler for over a decade. Her SAR and dog training experience has been sought after as an instructor for a variety of national seminars and has been featured in a number of publications such as "A New Owners Guide to the German Shepherd" and " Dog Heroes of September 11, A Tribute to America's Search and Rescue Dogs".

We are very lucky to have Sue's training expertise and her knack for planning trainings and providing the training curriculum and progression of our team's K9s. Her expertise has been invaluable to the success of our K9s.

Sue and K9 Willie are in the process of working towards their water recovery certification.

Ray Sooley
Flanker / Support / Fundraising

Ray sooley is one of our seasoned flanker and support personnel. He has been involved in search and rescue since 2015 and has served as invaluable member supporting our K9 handler/dog teams in the field during trainings and searches ever since. Ray has a keen talent for clue awareness, navigation, safety, communications, and so much more. Ray has been in the field with us so much that he can read our dog's body language as well as the handlers. He has acquired every land searcher certification you can think of, even Storm spotter, and has a passion for continuing education. He has acquired a number of certifications from FEMA, NYSDEC, NASAR, NJOEM, Maine K-9 Services, Red Cross, and more. We all feel safest when Ray is flanking and best of all, the dogs love him. Ray retired from his professional field after 40+ years in the Electronic Security industry. He is a former member of the American Society for Industrial Security and a former Board Member of the Security Equipment Industry Association. He has conducted seminars at the National Crime Prevention Institute, The Naval Intrusion School in Norfolk, VA and for a number of security companies in US, Europe, and South Africa. Ray's professional experience helps to serve SAR in areas involving digital mapping and communication as well as planner and coordinator for our various fundraising endeavors.

Donna Sooley
Base Manager & Operations

Donna Sooley is our base and staging manager. She has been in search and rescue since 2015 and her service has been essential to keeping our base operations in order. Donna is responsible for managing every aspect of our staging operations including sign-ins/sign-outs, release forms, radio inventory and operations, public information liaison, and keeping track of where we are at all times utilizing software such as SAR Topo, and monitors the safety of our K9s at base. Donna has acquired many certifications in SAR including ICS, NASAR, WFA, WMOEM, Crime Scene Preservation, and more. As a retired teacher, Donna and has a great passion for continuing education and signs up for any and all training opportunities. Donna is a former t-ball and youth basketball couch, former Lake Association board president in her community, church volunteer (educator, collection counter, and event coordinator). Donna's work experience helps to serve SAR and our team in areas involving management and coordination, including all of the planning, setup, and running our seminars and fundraising events.

Will Test
Flanker / Support

Will Test has been in search and rescue since 2018 serving as a land searcher and technical rope technician for the local municipal team, West Milford Search and Rescue, and has been serving as a flanker and support personnel for Specialty K9 since 2020. Will carries many certifications in land SAR including ICS, NASAR, Crime Scene Preservation, WFA, to name a few. Will has been an invaluable member of our team supporting our K9 handler/teams in the field in trainings and on searches. He provides exceptional experience in both land and digital navigation as well as digital mapping. Will's experience with our team has enabled him to have an excellent understanding of scent theory and how our K9s work and how we plan our area coverage, which makes him an excellent flanker asset and collaborator with the K9 task in the field. Wills outdoor experience is also an amazing asset as he grew up hiking, backpacking, caving and rock climbing. He is also an expert "birder", bird watching and exploring the remote places in nature where no one else goes. Will actively participates in citizen science projects such as the Mount Peter Hawk Watch in Warwick, NY, The Christmas Bird Count and The New York Breeding Bird Atlas III. Professionally, Will manages a Hospitality Construction Company that operates nationwide. When not busy at work or with SAR activities, Will spends his time with his growing family, birding or taking his daughter on outdoor adventures. Will is also an expert Caver, exploring the many cave systems in NJ, NY, PA and along the east coast. It is no question that Will's outdoor experience and keen eye for detail serves as an incredible asset to the SAR community. We feel fortunate and at ease having Will on our search missions.

Tony Stevens
Flanker / Support

Tony Stevens has been in search and rescue since 2018 serving as a land searcher with West Milford Search and Rescue and a West Milford first aid responder/EMT. In addition to his EMT certification he carries a number of certifications in land SAR such as ICS, NASAR, Crime Scene Preservation, to name a few. In addition, Tony has served as an invaluable member of our team as flanker and support personnel for Specialty K9 since 2020, at trainings and on searches. It is no question that Tony's expertise in critical medical care is an essential asset to our tasks. Tony's experience with the team has enabled him to have an excellent understanding of scent theory, how our K9/handler teams cover an area, and how our K9s work odor, which makes him an excellent asset and collaborator on our K9 task. In addition to his medical experience, Tony is an avid outdoor enthusiast, spending his leisure time hiking and camping throughout the many regions of NY, NJ, and PA, and more. His outdoor experience as enabled him to be a proficient navigator and outdoor survivalist which is an important contribution to the team. We are fortunate to have Tony on our team and feel at ease when he is flanking us on searches.