Sartell Officer Goes Above and Beyond to Reunite Woman With Father She’d Never Met

(KNSI) – A Sartell police officer’s perseverance helped a 39-year-old woman meet her father for the first time.

Michelle Cook had been looking for her dad for several years. The Iowa woman says she dreamed that one day she would get the chance to talk to him and maybe even meet him. Cook explained she tried all of the people finder websites she knew with absolutely no luck. Cook even tried mailing a card to his last known address in Sartell only to have it come back, “return to sender.”

As a final last ditch effort, and acting on a suggestion from a friend, Cook called the police department because she knew his last known address was in the city. On Sunday, January 18th, at 4:30 p.m., Cook called and was put in touch with Officer Kari Bonfield.

Bonfield could only give her scant information and wished her good luck. That’s when Officer Bonfield’s commitment to community kicked in. She told KNSI News there was something in Cook’s voice that made her want to help. “I think she knew he was getting older and she just wanted to reach out to him before it was too late. And then after I hung up with her, it just kind of tugged on my heartstrings a little bit. And so I did some additional searches and I found him.”

Bonfield’s access to the police database allowed her to come across a completely different phone number connected to Cook’s father and she called it. He had been living in the area for many years and was currently in an assisted living facility in Holdingford.

Cook received a phone call about 10 minutes later and was told he had been located and he was just as excited to get in touch with her as she had been to get in touch with him. Cook was given her dad’s number and she was able to speak to him for the first time.

Bonfield explained it wasn’t a big deal and she’s glad they’ve connected. “It’s very nice to do something for someone else that was such a small amount of my work to make a lifetime for them.”

In a show of gratitude, Cook is sending Officer Bonfield an honorary plaque that reads “going above and beyond and being the piece of the puzzle that matters.”

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