Lopez Island community helps rescue senior golden retriever who went missing for 5 days

LOPEZ ISLAND, Wash. – A beloved golden retriever is now resting at home after he went missing for five days from his house on Lopez Island.

Members of the community came together to help find 14-year-old Sage after he went missing last week. Stephanie Vallejo was one of them.

Vallejo says the group hiked, drove, and kayaked every square inch of Sage’s owner Jane Albrecht’s property and the surrounding area.

Every day for five days they brought out drones and compared maps to make sure no area went unsearched.

Six-year-old Leif even came out to help with the areas the adults couldn’t search in tight bushes and underneath decks, Vallejo says.

After a few days, Vallejo says she really started to worry. Sage at 14, has an enlarged heart, arthritis, and had recently started having seizures. The possibility that he had walked off to die crossed her mind.

But on the fifth day, Vallejo got the call many had been waiting for, Sage had been found.

Jim “Eagle Eye” Parker spotted Sage across David Bay, lying on a rock in the water, at the bottom of a steep path, unable to stand.

Parker was unable to reach the dog, so some members of the search party got into their canoes and kayaks and went over to rescue Sage from the water.

Vallejo says by the time they got to Sage, the water was up to his chin. Vallejo, along with the help of another rescuer Aaryn, rowed their boats over to Sage and managed to get the 110-pound dog into their kayak and to safety.

Sage’s owner Albrecht says he was taken to the vet and is now resting at home. She says it was obvious he fell, but other than a few bruises he's doing okay. She thanked everyone who helped with the search in a Facebook post Friday writing “Thank you to my wonderful Lopez and online community for love and support.”