It’s always heartbreaking when a dog goes missing, but you can always count on people in your community to help you look.
When a National Guard sergeant lost her beloved dog last month, strangers joined her to search everywhere, leading to a sweet reunion a month later.
According to WOWK, Sgt. Jillian Sandefur of the Indiana National Guard was in an accident on June 12 in which her vehicle rolled over on Route 35 in West Virginia. Her dog, a Sheltie named Murphy, was with her and got spooked after the crash and ran off.
Sandefur was worried: she was away from home and Murphy lost his dog tag in the crash. She searched the area as much as she could until she had to return to work on Monday.
“I’m so sorry Murphy,” Sgt. Sandefur posted on Facebook. “I hope that you’re safe. I hope that we’ll still be able to find you. Mommy loves you.”
On top of that, time was of the essence: she had to get Murphy home safe before her deployment in September.
But thankfully, strangers in the area stepped up to help. According to WOWK, locals Becky Randolph and her partner Tera Gardner checked the site of the wreck every day for signs of the dog, and the Mason County Animal Shelter lent an extra-large trap to catch Murphy.
After weeks of evading capture, Murphy finally ended up in the trap just over a month after he disappeared.
The local rescuers then went above-and-beyond to help Murphy finally get home. Randolph cared for the dog, then Gardner and her son drove him from West Virginia to Indiana to reunite him with Sgt. Sandefur.
It was an incredible act of generosity by these complete strangers, but they say it’s the least they could do.
“We did this from the heart,” Randolph and Gardner told WCIA. “We are not taking no reward. Jillian [is] fighting for our freedom — we owe her.”
Sgt. Sandefur was finally reunited with Murphy, and, according to WCIA, wrote a sweet thank you letter to everyone who helped in the search.
“It’s not everyday that you encounter people who are exceptionally selfless to others, such as yourself,” she wrote in a letter addressed to “my heroes.”
“My fur baby family and I couldn’t be more grateful.”
Thank you to everyone who helped Murphy reunite with his owner!
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