Danville, IN – Hendricks County Sheriff’s K9 Cade died in the line of duty on July 4, after he developed symptoms of heat exhaustion while tracking a suspect a day earlier.

The incident began on July 3, as K9 Cade was tracking a suspect near Brownsburg, the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post.

K9 Cade began exhibiting “symptoms related to the extreme heat,” and was immediately rushed to a local veterinarian’s office, the department said.

“He was reportedly stabilized and transferred to another facility for overnight observation but ultimately took a turn for the worse and could not recover,” the post read. “K9 Cade was a dearly loved member of our community and will be sorely missed by many.”

K9 Cade was sired by Hendricks County Sheriff’s Office K9 Bak, who continues to work for the department.

The agency said that K9 Cade joined the force on Oct. 1, 2014 as a dual purpose officer.

Almost immediately after he completed his narcotics and patrol trainings in July of 2015, K9 Cade and his handler helped save the life of a man found lying in the middle of a field experiencing a medical emergency.

In 2016, K9 Cade captured a suspect during a burglary in progress.

“In all, K9 Cade was deployed nearly 400 times recovering countless amounts of narcotics,” the department said. “Thank you, K9 Cade, for your years of service you provided to the citizens of Hendricks County and great memories you gave to us all.”

Plans for a memorial service were underway, but had not been finalized.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Hendricks County Sheriff’s Office, Deputy Sam Chandler, and Deputy S. Caffee in the loss of K9 Cade.