Cave explorers find dog missing for months
Cave explorers found something they never expected at the bottom of narrow and vertical cave - a dog that had been missing for two months.
PERRY COUNTY, Missouri (KFOR/Storyful) - Cave explorers found something they never expected at the bottom of narrow and vertical cave - a dog that had been missing for two months.
Spelunkers recently rescued 13-year-old Abby from a cave in Perry County, Missouri, and were able to find her owner, who lived nearby.
According to rescuer Rick Haley, they found Abby with their flashlights in the pitch black of the cave and believe flood waters carried her there. Haley said Abby was so weak and appeared to have given up.
Haley told the Southeast Missourian, "She was just laying there balled up on the mud floor. She did not get up or wag her tail, she was in pretty bad shape. It was obvious she had been there a long time. She was skin and bones, emaciated. There's plenty of water down there but zero things to eat."
Haley said that he and fellow rescuer Gerry Keene put Abby in a duffle bag and moved “her 500 feet to a very tight, awkward, vertical climb, handing her hand-to-hand upward to the surface.”
Once at the top, Abby chowed down on some beef jerky, and was reunited with her owner, Jeff Bohner, who was shocked Abby was still alive after being missing for two months.
Bohner said, "Abby is recovering well. She's still very thin, but she's been eating well. She's slowly getting back to a regular diet. She's walking around and friendly. Looks like she's going to make a full recovery."
The video at the top of this story shows Abby's rescue as well as the dog one week after her rescue with Haley. "She's making a comeback," he said.