{"id":26561,"date":"2024-07-19T19:03:46","date_gmt":"2024-07-19T19:03:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/frightened-dog-missing-for-two-weeks-captured-near-silverton\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T05:41:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:41:30","slug":"frightened-dog-missing-for-two-weeks-captured-near-silverton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/frightened-dog-missing-for-two-weeks-captured-near-silverton\/","title":{"rendered":"Frightened dog, missing for two weeks, captured near Silverton"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Silverton
Silverton resident Jimmy Keene II captured Konni, a 1-year-old Belgian Malinois, on Friday. Konni went missing more than two weeks ago near Silverton during the Fourth of July fireworks display. (Courtesy of Jimmy Keene II)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

After two weeks of close encounters and dedicated work by some Southwest Colorado locals, a dog from Phoenix who fled during Silverton\u2019s Fourth of July fireworks display, is heading home.<\/p>\n

Over the last two weeks, a crew of Durango and Silverton residents have tracked Konni, the 1-year-old Belgian Malinois who belongs to Dana Hite, her husband James Lowery and their son Jaxon.<\/p>\n

Tips poured in over the last few weeks \u2013 Hite would get as many as four messages reporting sightings each day \u2013 and the puppy was finally captured by a Silverton resident Friday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere in Phoenix, that would never happen,\u201d Hite said, overflowing with gratitude.<\/p>\n

She and her family were up in Silverton for a week in early July. They took with them Konni, the 50-pound black and tan puppy who joined their family last October.<\/p>\n

The trip started with a warm welcome: an officer with the San Juan County Sheriff\u2019s Office helped the family find a camping spot around midnight along the Animas River south of town.<\/p>\n

Silverton\u2019s famous fireworks show started earlier than the family expected on July 4, and they didn\u2019t have time to put Konni in the camper. The spooked dog fled before anyone could grab her.<\/p>\n

The camping party immediately began looking for her, but to no avail. The next morning, they posted in various community Facebook groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not going to work,\u201d Hite thought to herself.<\/p>\n

\"Dana
Dana Hite poses with her 4-year-old son, Jaxon Hite, husband James Lowery, and their family dog, Konni. The Phoenix family's dog went missing during the Fourth of July fireworks show in Silverton and was captured by a Silverton resident Friday, over two weeks later. (Courtesy of Dana Hite)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Konni,
Konni, the 1-year-old Belgian Malinois who went missing near Silverton during the Fourth of July fireworks show, was captured Friday by a Silverton resident following two weeks of searching and tracking. (Courtesy of Dana Hite)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A group of people, including Silverton resident Jimmy Keene II, began looking on Friday, July 5.<\/p>\n

By Sunday night, Keene had seen no signs of Konni and thought maybe she had been swept away by the river.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think there was much hope,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But then on Monday, someone saw Konni on Molas Pass. Hite and her family had to leave the following day and return to work in Phoenix, but not before they plastered the area with signs asking for help locating the lost pup.<\/p>\n

Hite cried that night, missing her dog. But driving away from Silverton the next day, that changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt OK leaving her,\u201d Hite said. \u201cI just knew that she was going to be OK and be with us again.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sighting triggered Keene and a core group of about four other people, mostly from Durango, to spring into action.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe set up a bunch of trail cams, and we started being able to track where she was moving during the day, during the night, (and figure out) what were her patterns,\u201d Keene said.<\/p>\n

By tracking Konni\u2019s movements on the trail cameras, the group figured out the areas she mostly spent time in. They fed her, enough to keep her tempted but not full, from one location and started luring her closer and closer to a live trap set south of Molas Pass.<\/p>\n

Wednesday night, Konni entered the trap three times. But, wanting to ensure that she would fully enter it before triggering the closure mechanism, Keene hadn\u2019t set the trap to spring.<\/p>\n

Thursday night, Keene set the trap to spring and was convinced he would capture Konni. But for some reason, she didn\u2019t go near it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen her schedule gets changed or when she\u2019s not eating, we automatically get worried because she\u2019s been seen running in the road,\u201d Keene said.<\/p>\n

He and another searcher spent an hour driving U.S. Highway 550 in search of Konni. The pair was checking ditches for a carcass when they got a call that someone at a campground on Molas Pass was feeding Konni hot dogs.<\/p>\n

Keene had a blanket with the family\u2019s scent on it and when he got to the campground, he laid it out and started feeding Konni bits of kibble off it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was probably the 15 or 20 minutes of me laying there and coaxing her in, and (eventually), you know, she was licking it off my fingers,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I only had one shot. If I lunged, and I didn\u2019t get her, she would have been scared, and she wouldn\u2019t have trusted people again.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Konni was in the right spot, Keene grabbed her collar.<\/p>\n

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