Puppy who disappeared from car crash found almost two weeks later

A recently adopted puppy that disappeared after her owner crashed in Arizona survived 13 days in the mountains and has been reunited with her owner.

The Arizona Daily Sun reports volunteers found Bella, a 4-month-old mixed yellow lab, almost two weeks after driver Michael Crocker rolled his SUV off the historic Route 66 in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Mr Crocker was airlifted to a hospital in Phoenix after crashing his GMC Yukon Denali on May 14 but Bella was nowhere to be found.

Bella survived 13 days without food or water after her owner crashed his SUV. Source: Facebook / Humane Animal Rescue and Trapping Team (HARTT).
Michael Crocker's badly wrecked SUV after he rolled it off the highway. Source: Facebook / Humane Animal Rescue and Trapping Team (HARTT).

Mr Cocker and Bella were on a cross-country trip from Alabama to Southern California.

Humane Animal Rescue and Trapping Team member, Cheryl Nauman, found the whimpering pup not too far from the crash site littered with broken glass and car parts.

“I was feeling for the area of the crash, taking video, panning and narrating when all of a sudden I heard whimpers in the distance,” Ms Naumann told AZ Daily. “I was just shocked.

“It was clearly a puppy whimper crying out like, ‘I’m over here, I’m over here.”

Bella survived 13 days without food or water after her owner crashed his SUV. Source: Facebook / Humane Animal Rescue and Trapping Team (HARTT).
Bella survived 13 days without food or water after her owner crashed his SUV. Source: Facebook / Humane Animal Rescue and Trapping Team (HARTT).

Ms Naumann had ventured into the overgrown scrub and, after peeling back the bushes, found the tiny puppy with her leash tangled around vegetation.

“She was just licking me like ‘thank you,’” Ms Naumann said.

“I was shaking. The adrenaline of finding her was very emotional. After 13 days it was quite frankly a miracle that she was alive and conscious without food and water.”

Officials say Mr Crocker and Bella are recovering together in Southern California.

-With AP

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