The body of a 71-year-old hiker missing since August was found at the end of October on Blackhead Peak in Colorado, with his dog still alive by his side.
His loyal Jack Russell, Vinnie, has been near his master’s body for two and a half months, since August 19 – the date of the septuagenarian’s disappearance, Taos Mountain Rescue Search and Rescue said.
It was a local fisherman who found the man’s body, as well as his four-legged companion.
“We searched all the way up and west, down the mountain where his car was,” recalls Delinda Van Breeten, 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 found 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) east of the mountaintop where we conducted our search.
The little dog said that he was taken to the veterinary hospital for treatment and then was reunited with his family. Denver Gazette.
The cause of death has not yet been revealed, but police do not believe it was foul play.
This is not the first time a dog has remained loyal to its owner after an accident in the mountains. A 74-year-old hiker was actually found dead in May 2022 with his Labrador lying next to him in Arizona. A month before this tragedy The body of another traveler, 29 years old, was found next to his dogemaciated but alive, in a little-used park near Los Angeles.
Other stories have a happier ending. In January 2022 a dog He saved his master’s life after falling from a height of 150 meters in Croatia By lying down to keep warm while waiting for help.
