LIVE OAK, Fla. — He may not have had much to say, but the excitement surrounding Monday’s presentation was clearly visible on the star attraction.

After helping authorities capture murder suspect Ruben Gutierrez, also known as Ricardo Fuentes, in Micanopy last month, Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office K9 Huk was honored by the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office on Monday.

“I just want to show my appreciated for Cheth (Plaugher) and his K9 pup and everybody in here, because everybody had a piece of this to bring it to this conclusion,” Suwannee County Sheriff Sam St. John said before giving Plaugher a certificate and Huk a pail full of treats.

Huk, a 2-year-old Belgian Malinois and German Shepherd mix from Hungary, didn’t say anything, he did happily greet anyone close.

Plaugher, though, said the honors and accolades were much appreciated especially considering all the hard work done by the Suwannee County Sheriff’s Office and Alachua County Sheriff’s Office that led to the capture.

“You almost feel bad,” he said, adding that Alachua County had exhausted their canine units the previous night during the full day search for the suspect. “You all did a tremendous amount of work. We’ve heard all the legwork that you all did and then Alachua doing all their hard work tracking.

“We just kind of came in at the end and got all the glory.”

St. John added: “They were proud to be able to go in and catch the bad guy for us.”

They arrived in Micanopy early May 30 and after a briefing on the suspect, Huk entered an abandoned house within the perimeter where authorities believed the suspect was hiding.

Plaugher said it didn’t take Huk long to find the scent he was after.

“We deployed Huk inside the house and he very quickly identified an individual that turned out to be the suspect,” he told those gathered Monday from the SCSO at the Judicial Annex. “Huk wouldn’t leave the bathroom, so we gave him the command to encourage what he’s doing.

“A few moments later we heard screaming. It sounded like a male subject saying he surrendered.”

Gutierrez had evaded authorities throughout the day May 29 after he fled to Alachua County instead of meeting with Suwannee County investigators in regards to the disappearance of his girlfriend, 32-year-old Delia Cruz.

Cruz had been reported missing the day before after Gutierrez said she had walked away from the residence in southeastern Suwannee County on May 27.

While in Alachua County, the suspect met with his sister and confessed to her that he had killed Cruz and buried the body.

Authorities found the body in the evening of May 29 near the residence.

The suspect was found the next morning in Micanopy.

He was far from the first suspect captured by Huk, who has been active since January after training for basically eight months.

Plaugher said Huk, who is patrol certified through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and also conducts sweeps for explosives at major events in Jacksonville, has made 28 apprehensions with five engagements, where the suspect is physically taken into custody.

Gutierrez is currently being held in the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office on charges of burglary: unoccupied dwelling, unarmed; resist arrest: obstruct without violence; burglary: dwelling, structure or conveyance armed; and larceny: grand theft 300 less than 5k dollars.

Once he faces those charges, he’ll be returned to Suwannee County for additional charges.