Despite the nearly two months that have passed, Stephany Corral of Carson City is more determined than ever to find her missing dog Zoey.
Zoey's picture has been plastered on posters all over town since she was last seen Dec. 26 before jumping a
5-foot fence at her southeast Carson home. Corral placed ads online and in the newspaper, and spent hours searching the fields near her home calling for her 10-year-old American Eskimo pal.
Today some unusual help is in town. Corral has hired missing dog specialist Karin TarQwyn, who will try to track Zoey's route and perhaps give closure to a heartbroken family.
According to Web site k9pi.com, TarQwyn, who lives in Oklahoma, has spent the past six years traveling the country with her tracking dogs trying to find missing pets. She claims to have been involved in more than 1,500 searches.
TarQwyn charges about $95 an hour plus expenses. Corral said she's already spent hundreds of dollars in her search for Zoey.
"The money I have spent is a lot but she is worth it if we find her," said Corral.
"We have had Zoey for 10 years so there is no way I would give up until I know she is deceased," said Corral. "She is a family member and really she is invaluable to us."
As Corral understands it, TarQwyn combines mapping strategies, profiling and escape behavior patterns as part of the recovery efforts.
Corral said she has received hundreds of phone calls from people who have seen her posters, but no one has yet come forward to say they have found Zoey.
"We have been looking for seven weeks and don't know if she was taken, picked up and transported somewhere else, is still roaming in Carson City or coyotes may have gotten her," said Corral. "Karin would be able to give us some clues with her scent dogs one way or another."