Buster the cadaver dog is a real-life hero.  He has aided in the recovery of the remains of hundreds of murder victims, missing soldiers and mysterious disappearances.

The 12-year-old black Labrador retriever and his owner Paul Dostie, a retired police officer, work together to solve mysteries and help people find the remains of their loved ones.

Dostie and Buster travel to former war zones with History Flight Inc., a nonprofit foundation whose mission includes finding fallen American veterans whose bodies were never discovered.

Paul, a retired Mammoth Lakes Police Sergeant, says Buster is a one-in-a-million dog.  But, he’s not the only one – police officials around the world use cadaver dogs in order to find bodies, blood and bones from missing or murdered people.  These specially trained dogs were used after the attack of September 11, 2001 and Hurricane Katrina.

They also help convict some murder suspects, even if no body was found, because they can detect human residue long after the body was moved.

Of course, proving this isn’t easy, but Buster and other dogs like him have helped many families find peace.

Buster helped find Lt. Robert Fenstermacher, an Army Air Corps pilot whose plane crashed in Belgium after being shot down in 1944 and the pilot’s great-nephew, Robert Fenstermacher Jr. thanked Buster and Paul at the funeral.

‘’(Now) we can finally say to Robert: “Welcome home. You served your country and family with honor and made us proud.’’