Following the early March tornado that damaged their house in Cookeville, Tennessee, USA, Eric and Faith Johnson continued to look for Bella. Fortunately, the dog was reunited with the folks she loves most in the world after 54 days of intensive searching.
Bella, an Australian Shepherd mix who is 6 years old and highly smart, was the one who informed her family of what would occur due to the very erratic behavior she displayed just before the storm.
Eric took his wife, three kids, and fled, hiding them in a bathtub. When the tornado hit Bella’s house, he went hunting for her but was unable to locate her in time.
His home was destroyed by the storm, and he was left in the backyard.
Eric said to CNN:
“When the storm struck our home, Bella was sheltering behind our bed. She was abandoned in our yard, lived, and then vanished.”
Bella was only a few kilometers from her house, and because various witnesses claimed to have seen it numerous times, her family never had any doubts that she was still alive.
The couple has been searching their area often since the day the dog vanished, leaving bits of clothes so she might detect his scent in the hope that he is still around.
The couple’s friend Sarah Romeyn, who works at an animal grooming business, got a call on April 25 from someone who claimed to have seen her across the street, which led to the reunion.
She alerted her family just in time for them to hide in the bathtub only moments before the tornado hit their house, but got lost herself
Her family would frequently visit their neighborhood in hopes of finding Bella after the tornado
They would frequently visit their neighborhood and even leave pieces of their clothing so that she could recognize their scent, believing she was possibly hanging around somewhere close to home, and they weren’t wrong. She was found less than five miles away from their home. They didn’t ever doubt whether she was alive, since several people in the neighborhood described seeing her after the tornado.
Despite several neighbors reporting seeing her, they had no luck in finding the dog
Almost two long months after, church friend Sarah Romeyn, who helps track missing animals after storms, received a call about Bella
Last Friday, the 25th of April, their church friend Sarah Romeyn got a call from an employee at an animal grooming service who claimed to have seen Bella across the street. Romeyn, being someone who helps families to reunite with their lost animals after storms, knew exactly what to do.
She had been spotted hanging around across the street from an animal grooming business
Romeyn installed trail cameras on a fence, set up some food to lure Bella, and then called Eric, Bella’s owner, who came to help capture her with his brother-in-law and pastor
When Sarah put security cameras on a fence surrounding the cleaning company, she was able to record footage of Bella exiting a small spot between two buildings. Sarah realized that she had to travel to the location to assist Bella reconnect with her parents.
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