‘Definitely a miracle.’ Small dog found three miles away from highway crash where she went missing

AMERICAN FALLS — It’s a miracle right before the holidays after a small dog went missing from a car crash, then was found nine days later and reunited with her family.

Maya, a one-year-old Maltese-Yorkie mix that weighs under five pounds, went missing after a single-vehicle crash in the early morning hours of Dec. 5. Her owners were sent to the hospital.

Keysha Turner says her mom and stepdad were visiting family in Twin Falls over the weekend when they left early on Monday to drive back to where they live in Rexburg.

The Ford pickup truck was being driven by Turner’s mother, Ivette Turner, while Ivette’s husband was the passenger. They were traveling eastbound on Interstate 86 near Massacre Rocks.

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“She had her seatbelt on, and they hit black ice. They had the cruise control on so she couldn’t get a hold of the car when it started to go out of control, and then they rolled over four times,” Keysha Turner said.

When paramedics came, they paid attention to Turner’s parents. Nobody knew at the time that Maya had gone missing. Turner explained paramedics had to cut part of the vehicle to get her mom out, and then they took her by helicopter to Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello.

According to the Power County Sheriff’s Office, Turner’s stepfather was taken by ambulance to the same hospital.

Turner said she currently lives in Oregon and got a call that her mom and stepfather were in the hospital, so she came as quickly as possible. Her mom started asking Turner about Maya during her first night in the hospital.

“One of her first words was asking where Maya was and asking if she was okay. Every day after that, she was asking for her,” Turner said.

When she learned that Maya was in the car accident, Turner said she was distraught for the tiny dog.

“When we went to the junkyard to see the truck and seeing how messed up the truck was, I was a little bit scared. We thought, if she’s dead, she’s probably in the truck somewhere. But we couldn’t find anything, and I thought, she can’t be dead,” Turner said. “If we can’t find her anywhere, she’s still out there, just thriving!”

Turner did everything she could to find her. She posted flyers in the surrounding area where she went missing so people could keep an eye out for Maya.

Judi Fehringer, an animal control officer with the American Falls Police Department, told EastIdahoNews.com she looked for Maya every day for nine days.

She set up a trap near the crash site to see if Maya would come to it. She explained the live trap is like a little cage with a blanket over it. It has food inside, and there’s a bar that can shut the door once the animal touches it. It does not hurt the animal.

“We figured she was probably moving out,” Fehringer said. “I started having everybody look at other areas because we have farmhouses nearby along the interstate on both sides.”

Fehringer knew Maya was alive because she had seen tracks in the snow. It was just a matter of finding where she had gone. Some of the challenges Fehringer faced were when the snow would blow over Maya’s tracks, and when the sun would come out for a day and melt the tracks. Still, though, she kept trying.

She said people from the community called with sightings and also wanted to help.

Finally, Fehringer said she had spotted what looked like Maya on Monday, Dec. 12, near an exit, but the little dog was gone when she tried getting to her.

“On Wednesday, we got a call from dispatch that a young kid was pretty sure he had seen her. So I went out there. I had a deputy out there,” she said. “I called Keysha. We waited for her at the boy’s house.”

Sure enough, off Exit 33, near the Neeley area on Interstate 86, going east toward Pocatello, Maya was found by a house where she was taking shelter. It was three miles away from the crash site.

Turner showed up and tried calling for Maya. She says her mom is Mexican and calls Maya “Mayita” so she started saying her name in Spanish.

“As soon as I turned the corner, her little head was sticking out, and I bent down, and she just came right to me,” Turner said. “I was super excited! It’s a relief. Judi was really persistent. I’m very thankful to her. She was out there every day.”

Fehringer said it was a happy reunion, and she is glad that Maya is safe and now home with her owners.

“The guy that lived there, the neighbors says he feeds cats. I’m pretty sure that’s what she was living off of was cat food,” Fehringer said. “She is the tiniest little thing, and you know a lot of dogs when they get in that situation, they put themselves in that survival mode for a while and she did it. It’s just amazing.”

Fehringer explained there are also dangers out there, like coyotes, owls and hawks. Maya just figured it out and kept herself alive.

The Power County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook, “Thank you, everyone, who called in sightings, Deputy Hoag, and American Falls Police Department Animal Control Officer Fehringer. Definitely a miracle!”

Turner said the day that Maya was found was when her mother was released from the hospital. She said she is grateful for the reunion between her mom and Maya.

“It was beautiful. My mom started crying,” Turner said.