After Sophie Disappears In A Deadly Blizzard, One Neighbor Spots A Clue In A Snowbank

There is no feeling as terrible as knowing that someone you love is missing.

Even when you know you’ve exhausted all efforts in finding them, you still feel as if you should be doing something.

It’s even more heartbreaking when you wonder if you could perhaps have done something to avoid the situation.

That’s what happened to Albert Silver when his 13-year-old Labrador, Sophie, disappeared.

“Thursday before supper we all went out to shovel and plow,” Albert explained on Facebook.

“Sophie loves to be a part of this. She followed us next door to her aunt’s house when we plowed there.

Afterward, she went to a neighbor’s house that she visits often and then he sent her home. She was last seen leaving his house.” 

He and his family had been shoveling and plowing their Maine home when Sophie wandered off.

The Labrador usually stays near the house or visits next door but suddenly, she was nowhere to be found!

Albert put out a desperate alert on his Facebook for all his friends and family to be on the lookout for the sweet yellow Labrador Retriever.

“Sophie has made this neighborhood her own and had many people she visited, even had her own normal paths to take to get to each place,” Albert explained.

“Everyone around here knows her well and was nice to her.”

Everyone worked together to look for Sophie.

By the fourth day of searching, things were looking grim…because of her age, it was doubtful that Sophie could have survived the cold temperatures and extreme snowfall.

“Please share, let us know if she’s been spotted or any other scenario,” Albert wrote.

“We have calls in to animal control, responsible pet care, the town office, and neighbors.”

Even if they were only able to recover Sophie’s body, they wanted to have closure. They wanted to know what happened to her.

A whopping 2,000 people shared the post with his plea for help!

Soon, Albert and his family received offers of help and prayers and support from people all over, many of whom they didn’t even know.

They posted photos of Sophie along with their plea to help them find her.

They kept hoping against hope that someone would recognize her and return her to her family! But sadly, no calls came, except those offering sympathy.

They were about to abandon all hope when suddenly, the phone rang. And this time it wasn’t just more support…it was the news they’d all been praying for!

Sophie had been spotted. Well, part of her had: her head had been seen poking up out of a huge mound of snow!

Whether she had fallen into it somehow or had been covered inadvertently, no one will ever know. But she was definitely alive.

“It’s a miracle. Sophie has been found alive and well,” Albert wrote on Facebook.

“She spent 5 days out in extreme cold and winds and in the snow.”

It took some work with the snowplow to get her out of the snow, but she wagged her tail as soon as she was freed.

Then they immediately took her to the vet to make sure she was okay.

The next post to Facebook was even more positive:

“No frostbite. Lost 5 pounds, hungry and tired,” Albert wrote.

“Blood work and X-rays all showed a healthy girl.”

People around the country were thrilled to see the news that the elderly Lab had been reunited with her family!

Sophie received a touching Welcome Home party, complete with a cake decorated to tell Sophie exactly how the family felt about her.

The family’s little boy had spelled it out in sprinkles…”Sophy, luv you”

Hopefully the next time the snow plows are roaring, Sophie will stay inside where it’s warm, with a family that “luvs her.”

So very very much! 😀

Sources: Facebook, Little Things