Dog in Yuma goes missing for seven days before returning home

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - A local family's dog in Yuma went missing for seven days before returning home.

We spoke with the dog's owners who shared how he got away, and how the community worked together to bring him home.

16-month-old "Oliver" is a brown Dachshund who's the love of the Kositarut family, but one day last week, little Oliver decided to go on an adventure after a routine bath.

Oliver wandered off into the desert next to where the Kositaruts live, and just like that he was out of sight.

CC Kositarut, Oliver's Owner, says, "We cried like babies because we couldn't find him and my husband was just overtaken with grief because he was feeling responsible and guilty. This is his baby."

One can imagine the difficulty of trying to find a small brown dog in the rural landscape at Barry Goldwater Range.

So the Kositaruts began knocking on doors and that's when they met Kelly Manzo.

Manzo shared images of the missing dog on Facebook and a wave of community members joined the effort to bring the furry friend home.

Kelly Manzo, a local resident, says, "People who had never met Oliver, ever met his parents, came out of the woodwork. There must have been 30 people in the desert searching for the poor little lost dog."

Miraculously, after seven days and six nights of searching using drones, off-road vehicles, and search dogs, Oliver was spotted by a local neighbor.

One of Oliver's owners shares more about that special moment.

Savanah Kositarut says, "I was the one who got to lift him up and call my dad. That was the most incredible feeling."

Oliver's owner cut up pieces of his favorite blanket hoping that he would smell them and find his way home and it worked.

Manzo says, "The fact that he came home Hansel & Gretel style with his blanket in his mouth, which was his mother's idea, is just amazing to me."

His owner shares more about little Oliver's condition since coming home.

CC says, "He came out unscathed pretty much, a couple of scratches on his chest, no fleas, no ticks, no temperature, and his bloodwork was good. He's an amazing dog and we are so thrilled that our lives are complete now that he's back home."

The owners say that since Oliver's return, he'll soon be microchipped and that they bought him a new GPS collar in hopes that this does not happen again.