CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The community is rallying to help a family from New York, whose dog broke loose from her leash earlier this month while they were visiting Carowinds Camp Wilderness.
But as the search enters a fourth week, trackers assisting with the case think it's possible the pooch might have already left the Charlotte area. They hope people can share her photo nationwide.
Dana Calteaux said she and her husband Glenn, from the Buffalo area, planned their Charlotte trip in early April primarily around their dogs, Lucy and Lily. They had no idea they would be leaving North Carolina without one of their beloved goldens.
"We took our camper so we could have our dogs with us," Dana Calteaux said.
The Calteauxs said the trip was going well until Sunday, April 2, when Lucy got spooked and took off.
"Fireworks started going off, like quarter-after-eight, 8:30 -- so, still daylight," Dana said. "I wasn't expecting them that early. The first firework went off, and Lucy broke her leash and gone."
After several days looking for Lucy, including a trip back up to New York to drop off their kids, and a return to Charlotte to continue the search, the Calteaux family was forced to return home for good and leave the search in the hands of people they met in Charlotte.
"They're hanging flyers," Dana said. "They are looking. They're searching. They're going to the campground. I'm checking their Ring cameras... Everything everybody is doing --it's comforting."
"Everything short of uprooting our family... to look for our dog," Glenn said. "It's hard... We have to, you know, give the faith in everybody else to hope that everything that we need to do to try to find her is getting done."
Teresa Tucker and Kelly Chatman, with Tucker K-9 Search & Rescue, said the local efforts have been crucial, but it's time to expand the search to other states.
"Because we're not getting sightings," Tucker said, "whoever may possibly have her is not in our area."
Tucker said, based on the customer profile of the campgrounds, it is possible someone could have picked her up and continued on their travels with her in tow.
"She could be in Colorado or on the West Coast somewhere by now," Tucker said. "Because RV campers... we know they travel."
The search team urges people who might spot Lucy to not try to grab her, as it could scare her away. Instead, people can take a photo of her, and call them at 704- 400-0110 with the details, including the location of the sighting.
"When dogs have been through a traumatic experience, they go instantly into survival mode, and it's very hard to get their attention, to calm them down," Chatman said.
Chatman and Tucker said the community support for the Lucy search has been incredible and they are hoping that support spreads nationwide.
"This has pulled on a lot of heartstrings, and we found that a lot of people have really tried to help be on the lookout for her and spread the word as well," Tucker said.
The Calteaux family said they are offering a $1,000 reward for the return of their beloved Lucy.
"It's tough," Dana said. "The one morning I heard my son call for her--right after we got back home, I heard him yell for her in the morning... That was tough."
Sidestep the Lost Golden Retriever Scam
Tucker K-9 Search & Rescue said a common share on the Facebook group dedicated to finding Lucy is a scam post that has made the rounds on other lost pet groups and rescue groups previously.
It shows photos of a golden retriever getting medical care, with the poster claiming the dog has been hit by a vehicle and has no microchip, making the owner hard to find. The poster asks people to share the post.
Chatman said this is an established bait-and-switch lost pet scam and a post Tucker K-9 Search & Rescue gets daily from folks eager to help with Lucy's search. Chatman said the poster usually waits until there are enough shares, then edits the post to make it a scam ad for a home to rent or buy. She recommends reporting posts with the above photos to Facebook.
Other Tough Searches
Tucker K-9 Search & Rescue is involved with two other ongoing missing dog cases in Charlotte.
Lizzy, above, went missing in November after a car crash at Graham Street and Dalton Avenue.
Blake, above, disappeared in late January from Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Searchers consider these to be difficult cases, like Lucy's, due to the high-traffic areas where the dogs were lost.
Contact Vanessa Ruffes at vruffes@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.