Owner asks for community’s help finding German Shepherd missing after rollover accident on Highway 139
A woman from Olympia, Washington asks for the community’s help in locating Riley, her 11-year-old German Shepherd missing since a March 22 accident on Highway 139.
Amanda Taylor asks residents to remain observant and report sightings of her missing dog to help to reunite the missing animal with its family.
“I’m really trying to reach people who live out in the rural areas and ranches near the accident scene,” Taylor, whose parents live in the Reno area, said. “I’m not giving up. We’ve had a recent sighting out by the horse rescue property that’s about 3 miles from the crash site, but she took off. It’s really hard for me to jump on a plane in Washington and then drive for hours to get to the place and by then it’s 10 hours later. It’s really hard because I’m not local … I do have people in the Adin area who have been so kind to me on this journey when I was staying out there for a week. If anybody says they’ve seen a shepherd, they let me know. Hopefully she’ll just plop down in one space.”
Even though it’s been a month since the accident, Taylor said Riley, a female with a black/beige coat who answers to her name, is wearing a collar with identification tags and is spayed and micro chipped, has the skills to survive in the wild.
“She’s a rescue,” Taylor said, “and when I first got her she’d been roaming the desert in Southern California where we’re originally from for weeks before she was finally caught and taken in by a rescue. That’s how I got her when she was about 11 months old. We’re a hiking, backpacking duo, so she does well out there.”
According to a statement from Taylor, on March 22 she was driving toward Susanville on Highway 139 about 3.5 miles north of Termo Grasshopper Road when she hit a whiteout snowstorm and lost control of her vehicle. After three to four rollovers and hitting a boulder along the way, Amanda suffered a concussion and lost consciousness. She awoke hanging upside down in her vehicle suffering minor injuries thanks to the safety of her seatbelt. She immediately looked for Riley who was unable to be found.
After CHP and firefighters surveyed the scene, they were able to decipher that there was no blood from the animal or signs Riley had been ejected from the vehicle; leaving hope her furry best friend would be found.
Since the accident, Taylor has been in communication with law enforcement, animal shelters and residents in the surrounding areas of Adin/Bieber and Susanville to help spread the word about the search and has set up a Facebook page to further her reach. She has received generous support from community members and received multiple reports of sightings although she has not been successful in reuniting with Riley.
If you or anyone you know has seen Riley or has any information about her whereabouts, call Taylor at (760) 895-8070 or email [email protected].
