Nash deputy and cadaver dog perform grim, yet necessary job in searching for bodies along Lake James

It’s a job no one wants to do, but it has to be done.

Some disaster recovery teams are tasked with recovering bodies of those swept away in mudslides, landslides and those who drowned in the historic flooding from Helene.

It’s important work being done in part with human remains detection dogs, one of which is from Nash County. The dogs are highly specialized with a unique skill set.

A WRAL News crew joined one of these teams on a very bleak assignment at Lake James in McDowell and Burke counties.

“It’s just eerie,” said Nash County deputy Jack Thorpe. “You know what’s under here. You can feel it.”

The mission is grim.

“What comes out first is air bubbles from the body; those float to the surface and the dog can smell that,” Thorpe said.

There’s no need to mince words. Fiji, Nash County’s human remains detection dog, is ready to find what none of us want to really think about – the bodies of those missing or unaccounted for.

“She starts to whine when we get closer and closer,” Thorpe said.

For days, swift water rescue teams and volunteer fire departments have searched the murky lake, consisting of 150 miles of shoreline.

This team said they have found 14 bodies in the region within the past six days. So everyone on the boat has their eyes peeled. From logs to deflated rafts, everything gets a check.

“I’m pretty tired,” said Thorpe. “I’m worried about the families.

“I can’t sleep because there are people out here that need to be found.”

Fiji hit on two target areas, one big pile of debris and a submerged dock.

“When those neighborhoods go, then people inside go with it, and they end up in places like this,” Thorpe said.

It is a tedious job, but one that could mean closure for these communities and families that remain heartbroken.

“Out of the 25 years I’ve been doing this, I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” Thorpe said.

“I don’t really feel a sense of satisfaction. I think it’s afterwards when the family has their person back.”

One dog, Joey, sniffs out everything – searching under houses and in water. Fiji and two other dogs part of the association will soon take a few days off before returning to the mission.