A man who had been visiting Talkeetna and his missing dog were reunited after six days of separation.
Jonathan Baugher arrived at Talkeetna RV for a weekend of camping on July 2nd. His dog, Kasmeer, jumped out of the vehicle and ran into the bushes. Something there seemed to have spooked the dog because she didn’t return after a few minutes and didn’t respond when her name was called.
Aaron Benjamin, who runs Talkeetna RV, says the man came in to the office distressed. Aaron and campers at the RV park all pitched in to help find the dog.
“So he was in here and he left me a description of the dog and his phone number. He went around and and looked for it and he never found it. I let him make a sign, you know, took some pictures and put them on my computer, made a “Lost Dog” sign to post around town. He was here three or four days. He was coming in and out of here every day…“Have you heard any word yet?”….”
After flyers were placed around town, people started responding with possible “Kas” sightings. Baugher searched downtown. He walked the neighborhood. He even drove up and down Yoder road responding to a tip, but he came home empty handed.
As more Talkeetna residents grew concerned, postings appeared on local social media. At one point Aaron thought he might have located the missing pet.
“I think it was Talkeetna Trader or something. Somebody, a dog wandered in their yard and they took a picture of it, and it looked just like it, and I told him about it. He came over and looked at the picture and it wasn’t his dog.”
By the end of the holiday weekend, Kas had been missing for four days. Baugher was discouraged but folks in Talkeetna kept looking.
Two days later, he received a call at home that a dog matching Kas’ description was spotted on an island in the middle of the river.
Baugher returned to Talkeena and a local river boat captain took him island to island searching for the missing animal. The first island had multiple signs of bear activity. During the search, the team encountered muck, thick scrub and dive-bombing seagulls. It was raining and Baugher somehow lost his jacket in the process.
Finally, on the fifth island, six days after she ran into the bushes, the missing dog was found.
Baugher is grateful to the folks in Talkeetna. He offered this to others who may find themselves in his position, “Don’t give up. Ever. There’s no such thing as a red herring when trying to find a missing dog, no matter where the search takes you.”
