After seven years, Janice Shaw just can't let Oscar go.
On a trip from her Round Hill home to Carson City on May 1, Shaw changed lanes and inexplicably, she said, rolled her car. While she wasn't injured in the accident, her springer spaniel, Oscar, ran off before anyone could catch him.
She thought she would just have to pick him up at the top of Spooner Summit, but 12 days later, the spaniel is still missing. Shaw has been camping from sunup to sundown since her accident, hoping to find Oscar.
"It could only be worse if it were one of my kids as far as how I feel," Shaw said through tears. "This has devastated the family."
While he has been sighted, she fears he has an injury and isn't responding to people. She also fears someone may have picked up the friendly dog and wants to keep him.
"We've just combed this area," she said. "I keep thinking I can hear the little jingle of his tags. I've been out here every day since it happened, but we have not found him. I haven't seen buzzards, so I feel he's alive and maybe someone has him. Maybe they want to keep him. If they want a new dog, I'll buy them one. They just can't have him."
Shaw, her husband, Les, and three children, now ages 14, 16 and 18, picked Oscar seven years ago from a litter of three. The sweet-natured, "really, really smart" dog retrieves newspapers -- the Shaw's and their neighbor's -- is a constant car companion and sleeps at the foot of Les and Janice's bed.
Shaw said several people have been out in the daytime helping her search to no avail. Until she knows what happened to Oscar, she said, "I can't just go home."
"I don't want him to die out here," she said.
If you have information on Oscar, call the Shaws at 775-901-0727.
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If you have seen Oscar, call 775-901-0727.