This is the moment a police K9 came to the rescue of an 11-year-old girl who went missing in Florida and was found locked in a park bathroom. 

Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call for help in a missing-persons case on Friday, January 26 at 7:57 pm. 

The K9 named Mary Lu and Deputy Sarah Ernstes showed up at 16000 block of Carlton Lake Drive to assist in the search of a ‘missing and endangered’ girl. 

Bodycam footage showed the moment Mary Lu managed to lead the deputy to a public bathroom at a park in the area.

The K9 followed the girl’s scent and sniffed around the bathroom doors, indicating that she was inside. 

Hillsborough County Sheriff Deputy Sarah Ernstes (pictured) and K9 Mary Lu responded to a call for help in a missing-persons case on Friday, January 26

The pair showed up at 16000 block of Carlton Lake Drive to assist in the search of a ‘missing and endangered’ girl just before 8pm

Bodycam footage showed the impressive moment that Mary Lu managed to lead the deputy to a public bathroom at a park in the area where she sniffed around the bathroom doors, indicating that the girl was inside

‘She does have happy tail over here at these bathrooms which she only does when she’s close to somebody,’ the deputy says in the bodycam footage.

Ernstes and a fellow male deputy assured the little girl that it was safe to come out and she eventually emerged from the locked public bathroom. 

‘It’s just me, a female deputy, my dog and another deputy. You’re not in trouble – we just need to talk to you,’ Ernstes told the girl who was still shut inside the park restroom.

The deputies were able to successfully talk the girl into unlocking the door and she was found safe without injury.  

After being lured to safety by the deputies, Ernstes asked the girl ‘do you like dogs?’ before encouraging her to let Mary Lu give her a kiss as her ‘reward’.

‘I promise she won’t hurt you,’ Ernstes told the 11-year-old as she approached the hero-dog. 

In a heart-warming moment, Mary Lu embraced the rescued girl and gave her a comforting lick.

‘Our teamHCSO K9 Unit has once again proven its invaluable role in our community,’ said Sheriff Chad Chronister. 

‘She [Mary Lu] does have happy tail over here at these bathrooms which she only does when she’s close to somebody,’ the deputy says in the bodycam footage

Ernstes and a fellow male deputy assured the little girl that it was safe to come out and she eventually emerged from the locked public bathroom uninjured and safe

Sheriff Chad Chronister said: ‘Our teamHCSO K9 Unit has once again proven its invaluable role in our community,’ referencing Mary Lu and  Deputy Ernstes’s success

‘With their exceptional skills, they successfully located and brought home a missing 11-year-old girl, reuniting her safely with her family. I couldn’t be prouder of our team’s commitment to service and determination to protect and serve.’ 

It was reported that after Mary Lu’s initial track, the deputies were led to a neighbor’s house – where they learned that residents had driven her to an apartment building in Wimauma, the sheriff’s office reported.

As of now – it’s unclear whether the 11-year-old left her home willingly or why the neighbors had given her a ride to the nearby complex.

Nobody has been charged in relation to the girl’s disappearance as of the latest reporting.