Real-life tracker says cruelty of Oklahoma woman’s murder will “stay with me forever”

Updated on: September 5, 2026 / 10:59 PM EDT / CBS News

This story originally aired on Nov. 15, 2025.

The guys at the sheriff's office call her a cool dude with long hair because, they say, she's meaner than any of them — on the gun range and in the field. Her name is Lt. Dakota Black. She's a trained tracker and detective with the Pottawatomie County Sheriff's Office in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

Lt. Dakota Black: I go out to scenes when there's manhunts or trying to locate individuals.

Her specialty is finding the missing — whether alive or dead.

Lt. Dakota Black: I have found them underneath piles of leaves. … In trees and abandoned homes, sheds … I've found them pretty much in any area you can think of.

Often by her side, her partner, Deputy Haven, a trained therapy dog. For kids and other family members caught in the crossfire of tragedy, Haven provides comfort and consolation — a consoling presence she herself would rely on in the coming months as she embarked on one of the most heart-wrenching cases of her career.

Lt. Dakota Black: This case will stay with me forever. And it will be…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/