This post was written in conjunction with a story I wrote for our local Fox TV affiliate’s website, so the tone is slightly more formal than what you’re used to hearing from me. This is also closer to a novel than a post, so if you plan to read the whole thing, go ahead and get comfortable.
When my friends Rob and Heather Stallworth’s 2-year-old Golden Retrievers, Jake and Lexie, didn’t come racing down the hill to meet Heather when she pulled into her driveway last Wednesday at lunchtime, she was immediately concerned. She was calling for them repeatedly when her neighbor approached her and said that he’d seen them near the woods a couple of hours earlier.
Heather’s heart sank, and she took to Facebook and e-mail to put out the word that their beloved pups were missing, complete with photos of the furry duo.
Although the one-acre yard is bordered by an invisible electric fence and the littermates were wearing their collars that day, Heather said that it’s possible the batteries in the collars were running low. “In two and a half years, they’ve never left our property by more than a few yards,” she said. “If we were home, we didn’t even have to have the collars on them when we let them outside. They had no desire to leave … they just wanted to be where we were.”
Facebook, 12:15 p.m. Wednesday: My dogs are missing. Been gone for about 3 hours. Please keep your eye out.
Heather called a neighborhood friend, and together they got in the car and drove around, looking for the dogs. Rob, who also knew how unusual their disappearance was, came home from work early to look on foot.
Facebook, 1:29 p.m. Wednesday: Lexie and Jake are missing. It's only been 5 hours, but they are always within earshot of our house if they get out of the yard. Please call if you see them. The sweetest pups you will meet!!
Within a couple of hours, four friends in three cars were in on the hunt, and Rob traded his feet for his dirt bike so he could comb the woods more efficiently.
Several hours later, concern had turned to worry, which at nightfall got closer to panic. Heather quickly printed out 20 fliers to post around their neighborhood and the surrounding area.
Facebook, 6:05 p.m. Wednesday: I am so blessed with amazing friends. Thank you all so much for the prayers, offers to help look, for the hours you've given to help look, the love and encouragement. You all know they are our other children. Please keep praying they find their way home, or for the kindness of a stranger to help them find home.
Heather's regular Facebook status updates provided not only her friends and family, but also total strangers in other states, with real-time information about progress with the search. With each update prompting scores of supportive comments, Heather was encouraged to keep the faith and to keep the updates coming.
Facebook, 7:37 a.m. Thursday: Another day brings new hope. We're still praying and hoping they find their way home VERY soon!! Please call with any information!
On Thursday morning, Heather received a Friend Request on Facebook from a stranger. They did have one mutual friend, and after talking with Rob about it, Heather decided to accept the request. The woman, named Susie, was simply an animal lover who lives in the area and wanted to offer any support she could to help find Jake and Lexie. She began by making phone calls to local media outlets on the Stallworths' behalf.
Facebook, 5:44 p.m. Thursday: Hey friends - I know you all are asking. They are still missing. Thank you so much for helping us look and get the word out. Prayers are coveted in bringing our pups home.
Rob and Heather were overwhelmed that a complete stranger had taken up the cause and was spending her personal time doing things that they themselves didn’t have the time or energy to do. Knowing that their two young children, Haley and Will, were worried to pieces made it an even more emotional time for these devoted parents.
“I know there’s a line between your pets and your children, and I know that not everyone will understand how much Jake and Lexie mean to us,” said Heather. “But they’ve been a part of our family for almost three years, and they really are like a second set of children to us.” On Friday, the Stallworths decided to offer a reward for the dogs’ safe return, no questions asked.
Facebook, 6:17 a.m. Friday: We are offering a REWARD for Jake and Lexie's safe and quick return! We sitll believe they are around the Helena/Hoover area. But there is no telling how far they've traveled - they could be anywhere. Which is why we ask to please repost and help us get the word out - the only way we're staying positive is knowing so many friends and strangers are helping!! We appreciate it from the bottom of our hearts!
Word of the dogs’ disappearance spread like wildfire, and tips poured in from all over Hoover and Helena. Time and time again, the sightings turned out to be false leads. More friends got in their cars and drove the streets, calling for the dogs, searching the woods. Other friends called local veterinary offices, shelters and clinics, hoping the dogs had been turned in. No luck.
Facebook, 9:11 a.m. Friday: http://www.findjakeandlexie.com/
Rob took Friday off from work and created a website on which they posted pictures of the dogs and pleas for their safe return. Friends and neighbors continued to pitch in to print and post what were now more than 1,000 fliers on lampposts and stop signs throughout South Shades Crest, Helena and Bluff Park neighborhoods.
Facebook, 1:06 p.m. Friday: Our COMMUNITY is amazing. Please keep looking and getting the word out! They are out there somewhere! ABC 33/40 weather blog
Heather and Rob remained completely overwhelmed by the support of their community. Heather said through tears, “Just through e-mail and Facebook, we've had strangers and friends from Washington State, Texas, Colorado, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Indiana, Kentucky, Georgia, Florida and of course all over Alabama contact us to let us know they have heard the story and are praying for us and Jake and Lexie.”
Facebook, 7:43 p.m. Friday: We're still praying and searching ... http://www.findjakeandlexie.com/
Having spent the day combing Helena and visiting many Helena businesses to spread the word about the dogs, Rob and Heather were emotionally and physically spent. They were encouraged, though, by the fact that Helena business owners had been so gracious to them, inviting them to tape their fliers to the doors of their shops. They hoped that expanding the search would yield results.
Facebook, 7:27 a.m. Saturday: www.findjakeandlexie.com [posted with a photo of Jake, Lexie, Haley and Will] This is why we have been bombarding the area, and will not stop until our other babies are found! They are part of our family!
Saturday morning the family hit the streets of Hoover. While running errands, trying to do the “normal” things that seem so unnatural when you’re in the midst of a personal crisis, the kind staff at Yogurt Mountain and Starbucks on Highway 150 invited the Stallworths to post their fliers there. Heather said, “The thing that hit me was that customers at these places were asking me for a flier, and saying, ‘Give me an extra one and I’ll put it up at work,’ Jake and Lexie were touching people’s hearts.”
Facebook, 8:58 a.m. Saturday: We've had possible sightings from Lake Cyrus (this morning) to Woodlands/Hwy 93 to all over Helena - they really could be anywhere on Day 3. Please keep looking and don't think they can't be somewhere! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!
Three days into their journey, Heather was trying to keep things in perspective and stay strong for Haley and Will, but she remained prayerful that the Lord would bring their dogs home.
Facebook, 12:00 p.m. Saturday: I'm thankful - for my God who loves me, for my wonderful husband, my beautiful healthy children, for my AMAZING friends & family who love & support me, for opportunities we are provided, for food & work & home. I'm missing my dogs terribly, my children are devastated & it breaks my heart more. We WILL NOT stop looking & praying & hoping - But I know I am blessed!
Popular Hoover eatery Tortuga’s Pizzeria posted signs on its doors and opened up its Facebook page to aid in the search.
Facebook, 8:19 p.m. Saturday: Thank you to Tortugas Pizza for letting us post on their FB page!! Getting the word out will get these babies home.
By Saturday night, Heather had hundreds of unopened e-mails, and Rob’s cell phone voicemailbox was almost full. Most e-mails and phone messages began, “I don’t know you, but I just wanted to let you know that I hope you find your dogs ...”
Sunday morning again began early, with neither Heather nor Rob able to sleep well. They hit Facebook and their e-mail to check for new leads. At 6 a.m., Heather got in the car again and began driving, searching.
Facebook, 6 a.m. Sunday: REWARD - NO QUESTIONS ASKED!!!
Heather said, “I wanted everyone to know that if someone had taken them, all we wanted was to have them back. We weren’t interested in anything but their safe return. And the only way we knew to do that was to rely on the kindness of neighbors and strangers. There are no police for lost dogs.”
Again, reaching for the familiar, the comfortable and the faith-building, the Stallworths got dressed and headed out to Bluff Park United Methodist Church. There, Heather said, her voice breaking, “We prayed to the God who sees. We prayed that He would show us where our puppies were.”
Facebook, 1:54 p.m. Sunday: www.findjakeandlexie.com Starting to make myself sick just thinking about the what ifs. Trying to stay positive.
Finally, late Sunday afternoon, they received the call they’d been dreading … a 20-year-old resident of South Pointe, a neighboring subdivision off of South Shades Crest Road, said that he’d found a deceased Golden Retriever near the railroad tracks behind his house. Rob raced out the door.
Upon arriving at the scene, he quickly identified the dog as Lexie, who had been hit by a train, likely as she and Jake walked along the tracks, trying to find their way home. He called Heather, sobbing: “It’s Lexie. I’ve got her.”
Facebook, 4:08 p.m. Sunday: I cannot go into details. Lexie is gone. We found her. Please pray for Jake to be home soon. I cannot talk.
Rob felt in his heart that Jake wouldn’t have left Lexie. He went home, grabbed a flashlight and said, “I’m going to find Jake.” Heather was concerned that Rob was leaving in the dark to go back to search the railroad tracks alone, but Haley arrived home from soccer practice and Heather needed to break the news to her about Lexie. She gathered Haley and Will together closely: “God answered our prayer and showed us where Lexie was.” And then they prayed together than God would lead Rob to Jake.
Facebook, 4:52 p.m. Sunday: Friends, We found her in the woods behind South Pointe. We hope Jake is close by. PLEASE pray for Haley. Lexie was mine and Haley's girl.
Against all odds – one man, in the dark with a flashlight, on unfamiliar terrain – Rob found Jake within half an hour. Badly injured, severely dehydrated and unable to make a sound, Jake was at the bottom of a 25-foot ravine. And shortly thereafter, Rob would be in the ravine, as well.
Facebook, 5:36 p.m. Sunday: Jake is found. He's hurt. We can't get him out of a ravine. PRAY!!!!!!!
Heather’s mother called 911 for assistance hauling Rob and Jake out of the ravine, and Heather grabbed a ladder, loaded the kids in the car and headed for South Pointe. When Hoover Fire Department No. 6 arrived on the street, as close as the fire truck could get, Heather said, “My husband is not leaving that dog. If you want my husband out of that ravine, we’re gonna have to get the dog out.”
There was no argument from the fine men of Department No. 6, who grabbed their basket and followed Rob’s dad, Heather and her friend Barb with flashlights through the woods, blazing a trail as they went. Briars and twigs snapped at their faces as they slapped their way through to the ravine.
Once at the top of the ravine, they found Rob and two friends down below with Jake. Department No. 6 lowered the basket down, and the men maneuvered Jake into it. Because of the terrain, they weren’t able to raise the basket back up without exposing Jake to further risk, so the men struggled to carry him up the steep incline. Once back at the top, the crew traipsed back through the woods.
Facebook, 6:29 p.m. Sunday: We have him! He is really rough. Please pray he hangs on!!!!
Heather asked a friend to call ahead to the Emergency and Specialty Animal Medical Center on Acton Road to tell them they were on the way. Rob got in the back of their Chevy Tahoe with Jake and sobbed to Heather, “God led me to Jake. There’s no reason I should have seen him, and he didn’t make a peep.”
Facebook, 6:56 p.m. Sunday: We are at acton hospital. Keep praying!!! xoxo!
Heather left Rob with Jake at the clinic so that she could go home and comfort Haley and Will. Haley in particular was reeling from the loss of Lexie. For the first time, Heather put them in the bed with her so that they wouldn’t feel afraid or alone. The phone rang with an update from Rob. Rob said, “They’re saying his injuries are so severe, we might need to think about putting him to sleep. I told them, ‘Jake fought for his life for five days in that ravine. I’m not giving up on him tonight.’ ”
Facebook, 9:12 p.m. Sunday: It's not looking good for our Jakie. But, we are not giving up on him yet. I'm going to bed, don't really want to talk - but please pray for Jake and for all of us ... I know you are :) xoxo
Heather quickly called a friend of their who also happens to be a vet at the clinic. The vet said, “Let him fight through the night. It will take a miracle, but miracles happen.”
Facebook, 7:35 a.m. Monday: They say it will take a miracle, so we're praying for a miracle ... We feel all your love and prayers. thank you. xoxo
On Monday Rob again took the day off work and set out at 6:30 to go be with Jake. He called Heather at 8:30 with the news that Jake’s back legs were responding to some pain stimuli, which gave them hope.
Facebook, 9:04 a.m. Monday: Rob talked to the Drs & we are hopeful. We know it's still a long shot, but the Drs said though his back is broken, they believe his spinal cord wasn't cut. Basically, right now we are praying HARD that he isn't paralyzed. Rob said Jake seems strong & will not let Rob stop touching him. We believe it will take a Miracle. We know God is with us. We know only HE can heal Jake, so that is exactly what we are asking ...
And the healing began. Heather, Haley and Will joined Rob at the clinic later Monday morning to visit Jake. Heather said, “His tongue looked like beef jerky, and he seemed to be missing an eye.” Jake had lost several teeth and had possible facial fractures in addition to his broken back, yet he was so happy to see his family. He nestled into his cot with Haley’s Carebear and Will’s beloved reindeer so that he could smell familiar scents when the family wasn’t there.
Facebook, 11:27 a.m. Monday: [posted with a photo of Jake at the clinic] Our sweet, sweet patient. We still have a lot of unknowns and he's critically injured, but he is fighting and we're praying!! xoxo
Rob was astonished when the staff at the Emergency and Specialty Animal Medical Center told him that an anonymous donor from Bluff Park United Methodist Church had called and paid $1,200 for the previous night’s care, and they refunded what Rob had already paid. Heather said, “Again, the generosity of friends and strangers alike continues to amaze me. We think it may be $100 to $200 per night for at least a couple of weeks for Jake’s care, but we certainly aren’t asking anyone to help pay for that. Regardless, I’ve had numerous people on Facebook offer to pay for Jake’s care in honor of Lexie.
“People have shown us so much compassion, and we just want to pay it forward in whatever form that may take.”
Facebook, 11:20 a.m. Tuesday: I really forget, and am humbled by, how many people are following and praying for Jake. for all of us. When I saw him this morning, he was asleep the whole time. I would have loved to see his smile, but I know his body needs to rest and heal. He is hanging in there and fighting. Still not eating, but they are taking more blood work and may begin an appetite stimulant. They said he did NOT like his temp being taken (in his bottom) – lol - good boy. that means we're continuing to pray he knows what is going on down there and his body will start to work again on his own... not much update on his back. We are just witnessing a miracle with our baby boy, and we keep praying for healing so he can home to us! Haley is a fighter, too. She asks too many questions and it upsets her thinking about how all this happened and knowing Jake was hurt without us for so long. But, we remind her that God showed us where Jake was and He took mercy on Lexie. She went quickly. She'll never understand, but her 9 yr old faith is strong.
Rob, unable to stay away from Jake for too long, visited him on Tuesday morning.
Facebook, 11:19 a.m. Tuesday: (Rob) Taking a long lunch break to go be with Jake.
Little by little, the Stallworths were seeing improvements in Jake’s state.
Facebook, 11:30 a.m. Tuesday: (Rob ) Just saw Jake, and considering his injuries, he is doing great. He perked up when I got there and was smiling for the first time. Then he laid down and lifted his front paw for me to scratch his chest. He still has such a long way to go, but us being there for him is huge (for all of us). Thank you for all the prayers.
With repeated requests for more pictures and updates, Heather and Rob made sure to keep posting information to Facebook for anxious friends, family, and strangers alike. “Many people refer to Jake as ‘our dog’ now,” Heather said. “Jake IS all of ours ... he’s the happy ending everyone needs.”
Facebook, 1:23 p.m. Tuesday: [posted with a photo of Jake at the clinic] my sweet boy!! Keep fighting!!
Heather said, “Jake is healing our hearts. We all miss Lexie so much, but we’re so thankful we still have Jakie. I can’t really talk about Lexie yet … it’s just too soon.”
Facebook, 6:10 a.m. Wednesday: (Rob) On my way to see Jakie before work, and take him some food. He showed his first interest in eating last night, but he has never liked canned food, which is what they have there for him. Just hope with his broken and missing teeth, he can chew.
Jake’s physical healing process will be prolonged, and the family’s emotional healing process will be, too. Rob is currently making plans to install a ramp up to the house so that Jake will be able to come and go outside with assistance, perhaps even with a wheeled cart attached via harness to act as his rear legs. He and Heather are also considering if they need to make changes to the flooring inside the house to make it more comfortable and navigable for Jake.
Facebook, 7:12 a.m. Wednesday: This is the first morning since the pups went missing that Haley hasn’t woken up sobbing … Rob is already with Jake before work and said he is doing well … we are beginning to heal. We are all surrounded by your prayers and we feel them.
Haley said she’s trying to focus less on Lexie’s death and Jake’s condition and more on all the happy memories they made together. She loved Lexie’s mischievous personality and chooses to remember how much she loved playing with her.
She teared up when recalling how much Lexie loved soccer, which is also Haley’s sport of choice. “I just keep thinking, though, that she’s the team captain of Heaven’s soccer team.”
And for those who don’t believe that all dogs go to Heaven … p’shaw. The Stallworths’ newest friend – thanks to Jake and Lexie – Susie, perhaps said it best: “She’s at the right hand of our Father...running the show I imagine.”
If you’re interested in following Jake’s continuing recovery story, check in at We Found Jake and Lexie or “like” the Facebook group Prayers for Jake.
