A woman with dementia who became lost in the Utah mountains amid severe heat last month was found safe, thanks to her dog staying by her side and barking over multiple days.
On June 24, the woman went out to walk her dog near her family’s cabin in the state’s Emery County, local news station KTVX reported on Friday. When she didn’t come back, her family searched for her all night before contacting authorities in the morning.
Search teams were initially unable to find the woman, as daytime temperatures soared to near 100 degrees. Then, at about 3:30 a.m., conservation officer James Thomas and search dog Kip heard the sound of another dog barking, according to a social media post from the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.
They followed the sound but didn’t find the woman at the time. Thomas noted to KTVX that Kip kept running up toward the mountainside, but the officer thought it was unlikely the woman was up that high.
The next day, a neighbor said that he had also heard barking. Security footage taken near the neighbor’s home showed the direction the woman had gone, and revealed that she had been walking toward the mountainside. Thomas, Kip and the neighbor used that information to get closer to her location, higher on the mountain than they had been before. As evening fell, the barking started up again, “growing louder,” the state wildlife agency said.
Following the barking ultimately led to the missing woman and her dog, a chocolate Labrador. KTVX reported that the Lab was not on a leash, but had stayed by the woman.
“She’s really lucky that she had her dog with her,” Thomas said.
The wildlife agency said the woman was shoeless, extremely dehydrated, and marked with scratches and bruises, but that she was overall in “good condition.” She was taken to a local hospital for evaluation.
“At the end of the day, her dog saved her life by barking to alert our officer and K-9 Kip,” the agency said. “We’re so glad she was found safe.”
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