Dog Who Vanished With Owner May Have Been Found

An outdoorsman and his 18-month-old dog seemingly vanished without a trace in British Columbia in mid-October. Now, Murphy the red golden retriever has possibly reappeared, offering a glimmer of hope that his owner, a paramedic, might also be found. Jim Barnes’ partner, Micaela Sawyer, is convinced the dog discovered emaciated and injured in heavy snow 75 miles from the initial search area is the same one she and Barnes raised. But police want a DNA test to be certain, per CTV News. Sawyer admits Murphy isn’t quite the same dog. Once quiet and independent, he now “barks at every sound and howls when I leave the room,” she writes online, per the Guardian. But she says that’s because of what the dog went through, not because the dog isn’t Murphy.

“It’s been a heartbreaking journey, and while we wish Murphy could share his story, we fear we couldn’t bear to hear it,” she writes. “He didn’t deserve any of this, nor did Jim.” Barnes, 28, set out with Murphy on Oct. 18 with plans to hunt grouse and collect firewood in a remote location he often visited, but he failed to return for a work shift the following day. Around noon on Oct. 19, his pickup truck was located on a forest service road south of Fort St. John with its door open and Barnes’ keys, phone, firearms, and other belongings inside. Police and dogs searched the area, but found no sign of Barnes or Murphy. There was evidence of grizzly bears and wolves, but no clear evidence of an attack.

“Search teams commented many times on how odd it was that he vanished without a trace,” Shona Murray, a fellow paramedic who organized a volunteer search for Barnes, tells the Guardian. She claims volunteers found prints from a person and a dog along a river about 2 miles from the truck, but that police never followed up. Police say the search remains a “top priority.” But there’d been few clues in the case until late last month, when a photo of an emaciated dog with a broken front paw and puncture wounds was posted in a local Facebook group. Earlier this month, volunteers searched the area where the dog was found, per the CBC, but again, no sign of Barnes was found. (A hiker who disappeared around the same time as Barnes, and not far away, was found alive after nearly 50 days.)