By Pamela Powers Menomonie News Bureau
Monday, May 6, 2013
MENOMONIE — Family members believe John Philippi’s spirit watched over his beloved dog Molly until a determined Wisconsin state trooper found her Friday evening.
Molly, a 6-year-old German shepherd, was riding with Philippi, a 45-year-old Minnesota trucker, shortly after midnight Thursday when the semitrailer truck he was driving toward Illinois tipped on Interstate 94 by the Knapp Hill and was struck from behind by another semi.
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| Wisconsin State Patrol officer John Vernon found Molly, a 6-year-old German shepherd, after the dog left the scene of a semitrailer truck accident in Dunn County early Thursday morning. The crash killed the dog’s owner, John Philippi. Molly has been returned to Phillipi’s relatives. |
“I know a lot of people in my family say John was up above in spirit waiting for (Molly) to be found,” said Matt Doughty of Dassel, Minn., Philippi’s nephew through marriage.
Philippi was on the phone with a friend just before the accident and told her to hang on because he was going to crash. He was ejected from his truck and died.
State Patrol officers responding to the accident initially had no idea Molly was traveling with Philippi as the dog wasn’t at the site when they arrived.
Locating the dog proved to be a challenging task.
Officers tracked down Philippi’s family members and one of his nephews asked about the dog that had accompanied Philippi on the road. That’s when officers learned about Molly, State Patrol Lt. Jeff Lorentz said.
Law enforcement officers were notified to watch for the dog and a trooper went door-to-door at area homes to see if anyone had seen Molly.
“We wanted to find that dog,” Lorentz said. “We didn’t want it hit by another vehicle.”
Just before lunch Friday the State Patrol office received a phone call from someone saying they had seen a German shepherd near the Knapp exit. Dunn County Humane Society members helped search for Molly, but the dog proved elusive.
Pictures of Molly were posted on a lost dog website, and at the start of each shift, State Patrol officers were instructed Friday to keep searching for her. Later that day shift trooper John Vernon, a first-year officer, began walking the interstate in the area of the crash along with a couple of volunteers.
Vernon came upon paw prints in the snow near the crash site and followed the tracks. At about 6 p.m. he saw a dog matching Molly’s description seeking shelter beneath a pine tree about a mile west of the crash site.
Vernon knelt in the snow and called Molly by name. She walked right up to him.
“She wanted to be rescued. She was hungry,” Doughty said.
The dog had a 6-inch gash to her leg. Molly yelped when Vernon touched her leg, said Lorentz, who praised Vernon’s dogged tenacity to find Molly.
“I don’t think anybody showed more determination than trooper John Vernon,” Lorentz said, noting Vernon has an affinity for dogs.
Philippi’s relatives have a special attachment to Molly because of recent tragedies. In addition to Philippi’s death and that of his father in February, a cousin died in a workplace accident six months ago.
Molly is staying with Philippi’s relatives and her injured leg is being treated. The family will decide whom the animal will live with on a permanent basis, said Doughty, who is especially grateful to have recovered Molly.
“A lot of people went out of their way to help us,” he said.
Source: http://www.leadertelegram.com/news/front_page/article_7988354e-b6d0-11e2-8715-0019bb2963f4.html?mode=jqm
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