Search for lost An intensive search for an explosive device that disappeared somewhere between Schofield Barracks and Wahiawa has been called off.
explosives called off
Police are confident the explosives
aren't in a civilian areaAssociated Press
The search that began Thursday afternoon was canceled at 12:30 p.m. yesterday, according to Col. Arnaldo Claudio, U.S. Army Hawaii provost marshal.
Claudio asked anyone who might have information about the whereabouts of the device to call military police or 911.
Wahiawa police said all areas between the Army post and the nearby town were checked, and that police and Army officials were satisfied that the device is not anywhere in the civilian community.
The Army on Friday downplayed the volatility of the device. Maj. Gerald Muhl, commander of the U.S. Army Pacific Explosive Ordinance Disposal Control Team, referred to the devise as a training aid "that by itself is inactive."
The commercially produced device "is in the Army inventory solely for the purpose of training military working dogs," he said.
Claudio initially said the device could explode if it was played with or if there was any friction or change in temperature.
The Army on Thursday had placed the device in the undercarriage of a vehicle during a training exercise for bomb-sniffing dogs. Officials said the owner of the vehicle drove off after trainers moved away from the area to release their dogs.
The search centered on the five-mile route the driver took from Schofield to Wahiawa. The search involved more than 200 soldiers and Honolulu police officers.