On March 3, Eric Johnson was asleep when the family’s six-year-old Australian shepherd, Bella, woke him up. Bella was acting unpredictably, giving Johnson the sense that “something just didn’t feel right.” Bella sensed danger, and alerted the family to the tornado that soon destroyed their home.
When Johnson woke up, he turned on the TV and found out that a tornado was headed toward their town of Cookeville, Tennessee. He quickly grabbed his wife and their three children and put them in the bathtub. Nearly 45 minutes later, around 2:00 am, the tornado hit and destroyed the house. Johnson was thrown into the backyard.
Johnson said, “Bella was hiding under our bed when the tornado hit our house. She was thrown into our yard and survived and was missing after that. It was hard for us knowing she had survived but we couldn’t find her. She was the piece of our family that was missing.” The furious 175 mph twister destroyed everything in its path. The Johnsons would not have survived if not for Bella.
Johnson suffered a head injury and his wife had broken ribs, but they soon set about searching for their beloved heroic dog. They left pieces of clothing around the destroyed neighborhood, hoping that Bella would recognize the scent and find her way back home. Church friend and dog tracker Sarah Romeyn also joined in.
She borrowed cameras from a local animal rescue group and set them up in areas where people reported seeing her. She also worked with other dog trackers and even sought tips from residents with the help of the Putnam County Police Department.
When leads dried up, the Johnsons and Romeyn pressed on. “I was still finding time searching in parking lots, but it was tough. Because nobody had found a body, in rescue you can’t give up until you know you don’t have a positive outcome. And I hadn’t given up,” Romeyn said.
Paragraph 1: In time, they found a glimmer of hope when Romeyn got a call from friend Karen Ritacco, who said that Bella was behind her shop._________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Paragraph 2: Romeyn was happy to play a part in the rescue, but also credits the community for their help.___________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
