The body of a 71-year-old hiker missing since August was found in late October on Blackhead Peak in Colorado, with his dog still alive by his side.
The faithful Jack Russell, Finney, remained near the body of his master for two and a half months, since August 19, the date of the disappearance of the septuagenarian, reported the mountain rescue organization Taos Search and Rescue.
It was a local hunter who found the man’s body, as well as his four-legged companion.
“We searched all the way to the top and west, down the mountain to where his car was,” recalled Delinda Vanne-Brightyn, a member of the search organization that tried to find the man, who disappeared with the help of a dog It was so steep that we needed a helicopter. It was located 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) east of the mountaintop where we had done our research.
The little terrier was taken to a veterinary hospital for treatment and later reunited with his family, he said Denver Gazette.
The cause of death has not yet been released, but police do not believe foul play was involved.
It is not the first time that a dog has remained loyal to its owner after an accident in the mountains. A 74-year-old hiker was already found dead in May 2022 with his Labrador lying next to him in Arizona. A month before this tragedy, the body of another 29-year-old hiker was found next to his dogemaciated, but alive, in a little-used park near Los Angeles.
Other stories have happier endings. In January 2022, a dog he had saved his teacher’s life after a 150 meter fall in Croatia stretching to warm him as he waits for help.
