PERRY COUNTY, Mo. (KTVI) – A spelunking group in Perry County, Missouri, found and rescued a senior dog Saturday that had been missing for nearly two months.
The group was deep inside the Tom Moore Cave system when they discovered the dog, Abby.
The cave itself is about 24.5 miles long, the second-longest in Missouri. It’s unclear how long Abby had been in the cave or how she managed to survive.
There is some running water in the cave, as well as the presence of fish and crustaceans, but rescuers said it was total darkness in the part of the cave where they located the dog.
Rick Haley, a trained cave rescuer, was on hand to oversee a sump dive. There was an issue with a diver’s equipment when he was notified of the dog.
Haley and Gerry Keene successfully maneuvered Abby through a two-foot opening in the cave and then some 500 feet over a long vertical climb to safely get her out of the cave.
Once outside the cave, local fire officials helped the rescuers go door-to-door in the area to find Abby’s owner. After a surprising reunion, the owner told rescuers they hadn’t seen Abby since June 9 and thought the dog was gone forever.
