GRANTSVILLE, Utah — After a deadly rollover crash on eastbound I-80 Wednesday night, a family has been looking for their dogs that went missing from the scene.
In a half-sad but half-happy update Saturday, the family said one of the dogs was found alive and the other was found dead.
The German shepherd and chihuahua were in the car when their owner, 43-year-old Ruben Sepulveda, died in a crash, and they ran away.
Sepulveda's family has been out looking for these two dogs, who they say were like children to him. They reached out to FOX 13 News to help get the word out.
They said Saturday that Lily, the German shepherd, was found dead, and Zeus, the chihuahua, was found alive.
Lily was spotted on the railroad tracks by a train operator, who called in the sighting. Volunteers hiked to the location and confirmed that it was indeed the missing dog.
A volunteer searcher found Zeus and caught him by throwing a jacket on top of him. He was then reunited with family.
The family has set up a GoFundMe to help with the expenses for Sepulveda's cremation and travel.
Amy Haslam helps track missing dogs and was helping the Sepulveda family on Friday.
She helps people who might be going through their worst nightmare.
"I do it because I love animals. There’s no better feeling than getting them back to their families," she said.
Posts have been circulating widely on social media, and people have been coming out to help look for the dogs. Haslam wants to caution people against that.
"There’s been rain and snow and there should be paw prints, but there’s been quite a few people out here walking around, so we don’t know if there have been paw prints or not, because they may be gone,” she said.
So professional trackers, like Haslam, are asking people to stay away from the area, even if they just want to help.
"Don’t clap, don’t whistle, don’t yell for them. Pretend that they are not there. If they see them, just contact the owners," she said.
Haslam and other trackers have been setting up a feeding area with cameras to help find the dogs.
"We want to keep them in a small, tight of an area as we can," she said.
They plan to have more resources and professionals out in the area over the weekend to help find the dogs — but again, want to remind people to stay away from the area so you don’t scare the dogs away.
