Newlyweds searching for lost dog near Sprague, Wash.
A pair of Seattle newlyweds recently married in Spokane are searching frantically for their dog, lost after a rollover accident near Sprague Lake last week.
Sarah Cressey, 21, had just returned from a honeymoon in Hawaii with husband Trevor Cressey, who is from Spokane. On Friday, Sarah loaded her car with wedding gifts to make the westward trek to the couple’s new home on Seattle’s Capitol Hill, complete with a patio and small backyard for their black and white beagle-terrier mutt, Peetie, who joined her for the ride.
“I was just jamming in the car, listening to music,” Sarah Cressey said. “He was up in the front seat with me, lying down and enjoying the sun.”
Near the 240 mile marker westbound on Interstate 90 at 2:30 p.m., one of the vehicle’s tires blew out. Cressey tried to steer around traffic but lost control, and the vehicle tumbled end-over-end four times before resting on its top along the side of the road. Cressey’s shoulder was dislocated, but she was strapped in by her seat belt and able to exit the car through a broken window.
“It’s just a miracle that she was not killed or severely injured,” said her father-in-law, Alan Cressey, of Spokane.
Several motorists stopped to help Sarah, who was yelling for Peetie. A few people saw him sprint away, spooked, from the accident site. Cressey thinks he was thrown from the vehicle during the rollover and darted into the surrounding wheat fields. The accident occurred near Sprague Lake, where farmhouses dot the landscape about 35 miles southwest of Spokane.
Trevor Cressey, who had left Spokane a few hours before his wife in a different car, returned with her to the scene of the accident Saturday morning. A mail carrier reported seeing Peetie in a wheat field, but her attempts to coax him out had proved unsuccessful.
“That was the last time anyone saw him,” Sarah Cressey said. “Around 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.”
Trevor Cressey and a cousin remained in the area in a tent overnight, while Sarah’s dad in Dallas registered a website, findpeetie.com, featuring a YouTube video of the pooch performing tricks for treats at her command.
Sarah, who fell in love with Peetie immediately when Trevor brought him home after seeing a Craigslist ad two years ago, can’t bring herself to watch the video. She listened to the audio as her husband played it once, but she broke down into tears.
“I said, ‘I can’t do this right now,’ ” she said.
The couple hopes Peetie has found his way into a farmhouse near the accident site. They’re asking anyone with information on Peetie’s whereabouts to call (206) 423-4452. They are offering a $100 reward for his return.