Salt Lake City, UT – On Thursday evening, a Utah Department of Corrections K9 was found dead inside a vehicle parked at the Utah State Correctional Facility. On July 14, the Utah Department of Corrections issued a public release about the death of Loki, an eight-year-old Belgian Malinois who joined their department in 2017.

The agency said, “With a heavy heart, we announce the passing of Loki, our beloved K9 officer, who faithfully served the Utah Department of Corrections (UDC) for six years.”

The department said that Loki was one of seven K9s on their team and played a vital role in drug detection, fugitive apprehension, facility security, and emergency response at the Utah State Correctional Facility and Central Utah Correctional Facility.

The tragic incident, believed to be heat-related, is under investigation. UDC Executive Director Brian Redd said:

“We are heartbroken by the loss of Loki, who served this department faithfully for six years. We are mourning along with all of our staff, and at the same time, we are committed to fully investigating the circumstances of Loki’s passing.”

As reported by Fox 13 News, the vehicle that Loki died in has a heat detection system in place. Investigators will try to determine if the system failed, or if the failure resulted from human error.

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