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Evergreen Search Dogs is a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization based in Clark County that aids search-and-rescue operations.

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Relic, a 3-year-old pit bull terrier, waded through thick mud that, in spots, came up to her chest. She climbed debris piles — some two stories high — in search of human remains left in the wake of the March 22 landslide in the small community of Oso.

She spent two days this week in the disaster zone scouring the rubble for victims with her handler and owner, Battle Ground resident Victoria Armstrong.

“As soon as I heard about it, I wanted to go,” said Armstrong, who’s part of Evergreen Search Dogs. The local all-volunteer organization that’s overseen by the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and the local 911 dispatch center has had three canine teams sent to Oso so far, she said.

When the pair arrived at the edge of the disaster zone Tuesday morning, Armstrong gaped at the crumbled landscape. From her vantage point, she couldn’t see all of it, but she could compare the wreckage to the intact mountainside she was parked next to. It seemed impossible, she thought, for the land to suddenly come crashing down and move so far.