Searchers Hunt For Dog Who Escaped Rollover Crash On I-75, Ran In Terror

By Christy Strawser

DETROIT (CBS Detroit) Sweetie is a two-and-a-half-year-old springer spaniel, border collie mix sporting a red sweater and green collar with bells attached.

And now searchers are combing an area near I-75, on the route many Michiganders take on their holiday and vacation routes, to bring her to safety before it's too late.

The clock is ticking; A winter storm is scheduled to blow through the area this afternoon, and Sweetie is alone, presumably without shelter.

"It's so heartbreaking," said Mary Palaske, director of the Cheboygan County Humane Society. "We've been following up on every lead, they've got people walking door to door with fliers, it's in the newspaper, it's on TV.

"These people are just devastated, the community is 100 percent behind them."

This is how the unthinkable happened: At 2:30 p.m. on New Year's Eve, a gust of wind blew over her owner's roommate Nate St. Onge's truck on I-75 heading south from Mackinac, with Sweetie on the bench seat of the truck next to him. He was on his way to Traverse City to bring her to the place he shares with Sweetie's owner Amber Elliott.

The dog fled the crumpled truck, running north.

"He (Nate)  tried to catch up with her, but she was sooooo scared she wouldn't stop running," says a Facebook post supporting the search for Sweetie.  St. Onge had no major injuries.

Now, a Facebook page supporting the search has more than 2,400 followers and searchers are leaving piles of her owner's clothes along with treats, to try to lure her from wherever she is. The search is happening between mile markers 318 and 322.

Temperatures are sub-zero and dangerous, even in small doses. Searchers hope she's hunkered down somewhere safe.

Dog tracks were spotted Wednesday in the woods near the crash site, giving searchers renewed hope. Northwoods Lodge in Indian River is the spot searchers are using as a rendezvous point, and the spot where they're collecting and distributing fliers.

Searchers are also urging people not to slow down on I-75 or get out of their cars on the expressway due to the danger to themselves. Whiteout conditions have struck the area on and off, and more snow is expected Thursday afternoon.

"I'm hoping we'll still have a happy ending, we're praying that's the case," Palaske said.

Get details of the search HERE.