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Tuesday, November 30, 2010

"A.J.", Yorkshire Terrier, Black/Tan, San Francisco

A.J. is a 12 year old Yorkshire Terrier. He has a collar with ID tags and a microchip. His people drove into San Francisco from Marin and went to dinner, parking their car a couple of blocks away from the restaurant. When they came back to their car, they found their car had been broken into and A.J. and a cell phone was gone. They searched all over the area, but could not find him. They were unclear if A.J. had actually been stolen or did A.J. jump out of the car after the car was broken into. A.J. had been missing for a couple of days when I was called.

We went to the location where the car was parked and we picked up the scent leading away from the area. Within a few blocks, it was clear that A.J. had been taken from the car and carried away. The track made a straight beeline out of the area and all the way out to the beach, where we found an obvious resting/sleeping area. From here the track went onto the beach and then back up and then went back and forth from the beach to the walkways. Eventually the track led straight again through the neighborhoods where A.J.'s people stopped the search when it became dark.

They said they would continue to search for him.


View A.J. Track in a larger map

Total Distance: 28.63 km (17.8 mi)
Total Time: 5:31:24
Moving Time: 3:25:12
Average Pace: 11.57 min/km (18.6 min/mi)
Average Moving Pace: 7.17 min/km (11.5 min/mi)
Min Pace: 1.59 min/km (2.6 min/mi)
Min Elevation: -54 m (-176 ft)
Max Elevation: 106 m (347 ft)
Elevation Gain: 1729 m (5673 ft)
Max Grade: 9 %
Min Grade: 3 %
Recorded: Fri Dec 03 11:45:50 PST 2010

Monday, November 29, 2010

"Nino", Siamese/Russian Blue DSH, Lilac Point, Saratoga

Nino is an indoor/outdoor, neutered ten year old Siamese/Russian blue mix. He is wearing a collar with ID tags and is microchipped. His own property is over two acres and fully fenced, yet there are small holes in the fencing where he is known to travel around by going under the fencing. The holes also looked like critters like raccoons, opossums, etc, are travel back and forth. He is known to travel to various houses surrounding his home. However, after his disappearance, there were no sightings of Nino. I was called about one and a half weeks after he went missing. He was last seen by a family member around 3 PM when he was put out onto a front deck.

The house has regular deliveries and contractors coming and going onto the property. That day Nino went missing, there were at least three known deliveries and contractors coming onto the property.

Due to the property being so extensive and many places of the fencing are only accessible by climbing steep hillsides, it took over 45 minutes just to show the dogs the entire fencing for them to determine the exit point. After, I took the dogs back to the center of the property, next to the parked cars and told them "Search." Both dogs made a straight beeline to the large gate at the end of the driveway. From there the track went out the gate and onto another driveway directly across the street.

From there the track was obviously a vehicle that we were following, and it continued for several miles around neighborhoods and then went straight down Highway 9 and then made a sharp turn into a veterinary hospital's parking lot. From there the track appear went around the parking lot for a short time and then went out the lot and down a street, crossing a crosswalk and made a sharp right turn down Highway 9 again. This continued for several blocks. We were on the north side of the street. Suddenly, the track made a sharp hairpin turn down a steep and narrow dirt path down to the Los Gatos Creek Trail. Here the track continued for several miles along the creek and all the way through Vasona Park and to the perculating ponds on the Campbell/Los Gatos border. Within one hour, Nino's people stopped the search and wanted to continue the next day.

In my opinion, Nino jumped in or was intentionally put into a vehicle that either was on the property or just at the cul-de-sac where the driveway led to. Nino had jumped into a vehicle in the past. If it was a mistake he was in the car, the driver may have seen him in there and went to the vet clinic to ask for help. Or the vet clinic could have been a total coincidence. If it was UPS(it is known that UPS made a delivery that afternoon to Nino's home), the driver could have been making a delivery to the vet clinic, left the van open to make the delivery and Nino jumped out. Once Nino jumped out either way, he appeared to hide in the bushes nearby. It appears that he was picked up nearby because at that point, it appears that the track was somebody who was walking and carrying Nino. The Los Gatos Creek Trail is a common way that people travel back and forth in the area.



Day #1:
Track One:


View Nino 1.1 Track in a larger map

Total Distance: 12.54 km (7.8 mi)
Total Time: 4:41:02
Moving Time: 4:10:13
Average Pace: 22.42 min/km (36.1 min/mi)
Average Moving Pace: 19.96 min/km (32.1 min/mi)
Min Pace: 7.41 min/km (11.9 min/mi)
Min Elevation: -1 m (-4 ft)
Max Elevation: 164 m (536 ft)
Elevation Gain: 287 m (942 ft)
Max Grade: 18 %
Min Grade: -36 %
Recorded: Thu Dec 02 10:03:53 PST 2010


Day #1:
Track Two:


View Nino 1.2 Track in a larger map

Total Distance: 5.59 km (3.5 mi)
Total Time: 1:06:41
Moving Time: 43:08
Average Pace: 11.93 min/km (19.2 min/mi)
Average Moving Pace: 7.71 min/km (12.4 min/mi)
Min Pace: 5.13 min/km (8.3 min/mi)
Min Elevation: 34 m (110 ft)
Max Elevation: 101 m (331 ft)
Elevation Gain: 301 m (989 ft)
Max Grade: 0 %
Min Grade: 0 %
Recorded: Thu Dec 02 14:45:08 PST 2010

Day #2:

We picked up the track from where we left off the day before. The track continued east and north. The start and stop in the middle was that the track went onto a commuter track, and we could not walk on that. We had to go around and we picked it up where the track come back out.

In my opinion, I believe Nino was picked up by a transient/nomad type of person. We did find a very secluded sleeping area at one of the blue pins. From here the track came back out and continued back to the main street, and then continued north again.

Nino's people stopped the search after four hours and they said they would continue to search for him.




View Nino 2 in a larger map

Total Distance: 17.26 km (10.7 mi)
Total Time: 4:32:57
Moving Time: 2:21:17
Average Pace: 15.82 min/km (25.5 min/mi)
Average Moving Pace: 8.19 min/km (13.2 min/mi)
Min Pace: 3.70 min/km (6.0 min/mi)
Min Elevation: 1 m (2 ft)
Max Elevation: 50 m (165 ft)
Elevation Gain: 662 m (2171 ft)
Max Grade: 0 %
Min Grade: 0 %
Recorded: Mon Dec 06 09:10:48 PST 2010

Sunday, November 28, 2010

"Cousin It", Coton de Tulear mix, White, Santa Cruz/Capitola

Cousin It is twelve pounds, has long white hair with some tan spots, is approximately three years old and could be a mix of Coton de Tuler and Havanese. He is wearing a collar with current ID tags and is microchipped.

His people were out of town when Cousin It took off from his yard as his caretaker let him out front for a few minutes. For four days he was spot several times in the area of the Santa Cruz/Capitola border. After that, no more sightings were reported. However, about one week after Cousin It was missing, the local animal shelter received a call from a man stating that Cousin It had been found and that they could no longer look for him.

When his person went into the shelter a couple of days later to look for Cousin It, he was told about the phone call. He stated that Cousin It was still missing.

We started the search from the last known sighting on 26th and E. Cliff in Santa Cruz. The track went straight down to the beach, about one block away. His people said he loves the beach and would spend hours down there having fun.

The track went along the beach for a short distance and then came up back onto E. Cliff and went all the way into downtown Capitola and then around the area, down to the beach and back up across E. Cliff. As we were leaving town, the track went directly across a crosswalk. At this point, I told Cousin It's person that we may be looking at somebody who is walking their dog. It told her it was a 50/50 chance at this point and that we would continue to look at the track to confirm or deny that option.

I have definitely done searches where we know the animal was alone and the animal did cross in a crosswalk, but the most common clue that the animal is with somebody is that the track follows through crosswalks.

After this first crosswalk, we were able to confirm that Cousin It had been picked up by somebody. We looked at the track, and since we know he was alone at the sighting on 26th and E. Cliff, we determined that the pick up was probably on the beach, since after that the track was pretty straight and purposeful. He was probably very tired and hungry after being loose for four days, and he was willing to go up to somebody who was nice and offering food.

This would answer the question why there were no more sightings after E. Cliff and 26th and it would also make sense about the phone call received at the shelter. Cousin It's people are going to recontact the shelter supervisor and tell them about the search results and to ask them to trace that phone number of the  person calling.

They said they would keeping looking for Cousin It.


View Cousin It in a larger map

Total Distance: 562.60 km (349.6 mi)
Total Time: 2:27:57
Moving Time: 3:15:33
Average Pace: 0.26 min/km (0.4 min/mi)
Average Moving Pace: 0.35 min/km (0.6 min/mi)
Min Pace: 0.13 min/km (0.2 min/mi)
Min Elevation: -40 m (-132 ft)
Max Elevation: 14534 m (47685 ft)
Elevation Gain: 22351 m (73331 ft)
Max Grade: 17 %
Min Grade: -227 %
Recorded: Wed Nov 24 11:36:00 PST 2010




Day #2:


There was a very strong sighting of Cousin It by a woman on either the Sunday or Monday prior to this search. She said she saw the flyer at her vet's office on that Tuesday. She called Cousin It's people immediately. She was definite the dog she saw running down the street in Capitola was Cousin It. I received a call from his people that day, and they were going to that spot that afternoon and asked me to come out that next day, Wednesday, exactly one week from the previous search. 


We went to that area, and we did pick up Cousin It's scent there. However, it was in the opposite direction in which he was seen. That is not unusual, and has happened before. The person who saw him was able to turn her car around to attempt to catch him, but when she went back, she did not see him, even though the street she saw him on was long and continuous, except for a short ramp going down to an abandoned home, which is adjacent to an open space/creek area. 


The track we picked up in the opposite direction, appeared to me and also eventually to Cousin It's person, that he was with somebody, since the track was very direct down streets and back to the original spot of downtown Capitola and then up similar paths that we took the first search. There were some paths that were different, which caused the track to alter a bit, but it did eventually go back to the Soquel High School and the hiking paths back to it and then through some neighborhoods and then to the hiking path which eventually leads back to Rodeo Gulch Road, where we left off the first search, due to dwindling daylight. 


With the use of the car, we were able to move all along Rodeo Gulch, which turned into Laural Canyon, which, eventually, went all the way back into town. It was very obvious to both of us that the person who had Cousin It was following the recycling cans that were all over both sides of the road just that day. That meant that we were only less than a few hours behind them. 


As we were heading back into town following the track, I suggested to Cousin It's person that she go directly to the recycling center, the only one in the area for several miles around. I caught up to her near the center, and she said that the person at the recycling center, who said he had been there all day, never saw anybody like we described, and never saw Cousin It. At this point, we continued the track, and the scent led directly to the recycling center and directly in front of the large container and where anybody turning in bottles and cans would stand. Again, we asked him, and he said, in not a convincing way to either me or Cousin It's person, that he never say anybody of that description. I told him what the dogs were saying and he said he never saw anybody. 


We continued to follow the track and it went back down through the center of Capitola, like before, but went to the beach, onto the beach and headed to the left to Brighton Beach. At this point, it was almost 5 PM and almost dark. We had to stop the search. Cousin It's person said she would continue the search. 


Track One of Two:



View Cousin It 2.1 in a larger map



Total Distance: 13.16 km (8.2 mi)
Total Time: 2:56:46
Moving Time: 1:42:35
Average Pace: 13.44 min/km (21.6 min/mi)
Average Moving Pace: 7.80 min/km (12.5 min/mi)
Min Pace: 5.56 min/km (8.9 min/mi)
Min Elevation: -35 m (-114 ft)
Max Elevation: 71 m (233 ft)
Elevation Gain: 569 m (1868 ft)
Max Grade: 0 %
Min Grade: 0 %
Recorded: Wed Dec 01 09:10:45 PST 2010



Track Two of Two:



View Cousin It 2.2 in a larger map



Total Distance: 34.35 km (21.3 mi)
Total Time: 3:49:19
Moving Time: 2:31:07
Average Pace: 6.68 min/km (10.7 min/mi)
Average Moving Pace: 4.40 min/km (7.1 min/mi)
Min Pace: 1.01 min/km (1.6 min/mi)
Min Elevation: -41 m (-133 ft)
Max Elevation: 236 m (775 ft)
Elevation Gain: 858 m (2814 ft)
Max Grade: 15 %
Min Grade: -16 %
Recorded: Wed Dec 01 12:54:54 PST 2010

Friday, November 19, 2010

D'artagnan, DSH, Black/white Tuxedo, San Mateo

D'artagnan is an 11 year old Tuxedo black and white DSH. He mostly indoors and hangs out in his large backyard. He is not wearing a collar, but he does have a microchip. 


On very early Sunday morning around 1 AM, his person attempted to catch him in the backyard and bring him in for the night. However, D'artagnan did not want to come in and ran into some bushes where he couldn't be reached. His person checked again in a few  hours around 6 AM, but did not see D'artagnan again. There were no sightings of him anywhere in the neighborhood. I was called about four days later and I came out first thing the next morning. 


The track we found immediately went to the left past the house and into the wooded area surrounding Skyline College. In the past, D's person said that sometimes if he got out of the house, he could be found in this area. And, when he was young "D" had been found in the mouth of a coyote, still alive, and his person was able to scare the coyote off and "D" was dropped. 


This track went, like a beeline, through the college and then back out and then back a hard right turn up a gated fireroad, which led directly into the Sweeney Ridge area, a very large open space (1,200 acres) with manicured, and paved hiking trails and abandoned Cold Ware missile buildings. This track led us through the area, all the way into Pacifica. The track went all the way down to Highway 1 and then a sharp right turn up the highway and then went a short distance to a small Lutheren Church. The track went behind the church, where a mattress was visible. Then the track went up a very steep and narrow dirt trail, back up into the Sweeney Ridge area. 


In my opinion, it was clear from the start that "D" had been picked up and carried away, probably by a transient type of person. There is an unknown timeframe from 1 AM to approximately 5 AM when "D" could have been roaming around the small and isolated neighborhood and made it back home and was sitting on the driveway. "D"'s person said that normally is not trusting of strangers, but can be curious if the person is very nice. This person probably coaxed him over and grabbed him quickly and made the quick get away out of the area.


"D"'s person said he would continue to look for him. 






Track #1:



View D'artagnan 1.1 in a larger map



Total Distance: 1299.74 km (807.6 mi)
Total Time: 3:09:08
Moving Time: 2:49:25
Average Pace: 0.15 min/km (0.2 min/mi)
Average Moving Pace: 0.13 min/km (0.2 min/mi)
Min Pace: 0.09 min/km (0.1 min/mi)
Min Elevation: -32 m (-106 ft)
Max Elevation: 16574 m (54375 ft)
Elevation Gain: 16960 m (55643 ft)
Max Grade: 31 %
Min Grade: -28 %
Recorded: Thu Nov 18 09:34:41 PST 2010


Track #2:



View D'artagnan 1.2 in a larger map



Total Distance: 1.36 km (0.8 mi)
Total Time: 29:22
Moving Time: 12:28
Average Pace: 21.59 min/km (34.7 min/mi)
Average Moving Pace: 9.17 min/km (14.8 min/mi)
Min Pace: 7.41 min/km (11.9 min/mi)
Min Elevation: -16 m (-52 ft)
Max Elevation: 66 m (217 ft)
Elevation Gain: 95 m (310 ft)
Max Grade: 0 %
Min Grade: 0 %
Recorded: Thu Nov 18 12:44:24 PST 2010

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

"Phievos", Brown Tabby/White, Siberian, Fairfax

Phievos (pronounced Fee-vos) is a two year old brown tabby with white Siberian. He is not wearing a collar, but he is microchipped. He was let out on a Saturday morning, and that was the last time he was seen. 

There were no sightings of Phievos until the morning I arrived to do the search, which was about five days since he was seen. This person was very confident she had seen Phievos about 6 PM the night before on her driveway, about a half mile from his home. 

We went there and did find his scent. From there it went down the street and eventually went back nearby to his home. From there the track went back down the street and back out across Sir Francis Drake away from his home. The track went into and through the old Marin Town and County Club.

Day one eventually was stopped as the track entered Deer Park as we lost daylight. 

Day #1:

View Phievos 1 in a larger map

Total Distance: 9.87 km (6.1 mi)
Total Time: 0:02
Moving Time: 2:46:04
Average Pace: 0.00 min/km (0.0 min/mi)
Average Moving Pace: 16.83 min/km (27.1 min/mi)
Min Pace: 6.54 min/km (10.5 min/mi)
Min Elevation: -1 m (-4 ft)
Max Elevation: 51 m (168 ft)
Elevation Gain: 223 m (733 ft)
Max Grade: 13 %
Min Grade: -15 %
Recorded: Thu Nov 11 13:01:21 PST 2010


Day two started back at Deer Park where we left off the previous day. The track went deep into a canyon that we could not continue on because it got very narrow and steep. We decided to go back and find another way to another road where that track might go up to. We did find the track up on another more developed track and the track came out from there and continued onto a more developed fire road. 

See track two to continue. 


Day #2, Track #1:


View Phievos 2.1 in a larger map


Due to a battery change, track two continued for the rest of the day. 

The track continued through Deer Park. It went all the way up and over the mountain, past Phoenix Lake. See photos below taken at Phoenix Lake. 

After leaving Deer Park, the track went into Ross and through the town, through Kentfield and all the way into Larkspur.

As we were walking toward Larkspur along the long continuos road, I had the idea that we might be following a person who has picked up Phievos somewhere along the way. Then the track made a sharp left turn from the main street, at a light and at a sidewalk, into another park of Larkspur. Here I said to Phievos' person that I thought he had been picked up. We went over the track from that day and the past day, trying to determine where he could have been picked up. We both thought anywhere from the track near his home and all the way into Deer Park, somewhere along those trails. After that point, it appeared to be a very straight track that a transient on a bike could do. 

We followed the track all the way into Larkspur, into a park, near Redwood High School. Here we stopped the track due to lack of light. Phievos' person wanted to restart the search the next day.



Day #2, Track #2:


View Phievos 2.2 in a larger map

Total Distance: 15.71 km (9.8 mi)
Total Time: 3:36:09
Moving Time: 2:11:00
Average Pace: 13.76 min/km (22.1 min/mi)
Average Moving Pace: 8.34 min/km (13.4 min/mi)
Min Pace: 4.76 min/km (7.7 min/mi)
Min Elevation: -35 m (-115 ft)
Max Elevation: 123 m (402 ft)
Elevation Gain: 538 m (1766 ft)
Max Grade: 0 %
Min Grade: 0 %
Recorded: Fri Nov 12 13:39:44 PST 2010

Photos from Phoenix Lake:





We started from where we left off the day before.

The tracked head south and then looped around, over 101 and north again. The track went very close to the area of the start early, but then kept going. We went all the way out to San Quentin prison and then made a sharp left just before the on ramp to the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge. 

We stopped the search within the next hour due to lack of light, and Phievos person said they were unsure about searching another day. If not, she would keep looking for Phievos. 


Day #3, Track #1:


View Phievos 3.1 in a larger map

Total Distance: 13.58 km (8.4 mi)
Total Time: 8:13
Moving Time: 3:12:02
Average Pace: 0.61 min/km (1.0 min/mi)
Average Moving Pace: 14.14 min/km (22.8 min/mi)
Min Pace: 5.13 min/km (8.3 min/mi)
Min Elevation: -60 m (-197 ft)
Max Elevation: -5 m (-16 ft)
Elevation Gain: 305 m (1001 ft)
Max Grade: 22 %
Min Grade: -17 %
Recorded: Sat Nov 13 12:51:20 PST 2010

Day #3, Track #2:


View Phievos 3.2 in a larger map

Total Distance: 3.94 km (2.5 mi)
Total Time: 44:11
Moving Time: 33:51
Average Pace: 11.21 min/km (18.0 min/mi)
Average Moving Pace: 8.58 min/km (13.8 min/mi)
Min Pace: 6.67 min/km (10.7 min/mi)
Min Elevation: -36 m (-118 ft)
Max Elevation: -5 m (-15 ft)
Elevation Gain: 155 m (508 ft)
Max Grade: 0 %
Min Grade: 0 %
Recorded: Sat Nov 13 16:15:54 PST 2010

Sunday, November 14, 2010

"Zoe", Blue/White, Pit Bull, Discovery Bay

Zoe is a five month old, unspayed, 45 pound blue and white pit bull. She is not wearing a collar and she is not microchipped. She has a white chest, four white feet and natural ears.

Zoe and the other dog in the house were let out into the backyard at 2 AM on Sunday morning, but the gate was left open, and it was not known the dogs had gotten out until early the next morning. The adult male came home by himself, but Zoe was not with him.

There were two sightings of Zoe in the neighborhood between the  hours of 3 AM and 6 AM. We went to the most recent sighting and started there. From there the track left the neighborhood and went for several miles into a neighborhood and then around and around. This particular neighborhood, due to it being surrounded by water, only has two ways in and Zoe found one of them. She would go down a street, and then hit a dead end and turn around. At one dead end, we found that Zoe appeared to have hung out for several hours in area.

Her person stopped the search after the four hour minimum and said she would continue to look for Zoe on her own.


View Zoe in a larger map

Total Distance: 1404.74 km (872.9 mi)
Total Time: 2:46:13
Moving Time: 2:04:10
Average Pace: 0.12 min/km (0.2 min/mi)
Average Moving Pace: 0.09 min/km (0.1 min/mi)
Min Pace: 0.08 min/km (0.1 min/mi)
Min Elevation: -2440 m (-8006 ft)
Max Elevation: 5207 m (17085 ft)
Elevation Gain: 8923 m (29274 ft)
Max Grade: 49 %
Min Grade: -39 %
Recorded: Wed Nov 10 09:47:45 PST 2010

"Emma", Jindo, San Mateo

Emma is a two year old Jindo, and she is wearing a collar with a microchip ID tag and she is microchipped. She was recently adopted to her current home about four months ago.

She was at the home of a relative when she got spooked by something and ran out the front door. This home was just a few blocks from her own home. She was spotted about an hour later sitting in front of her own home, and people attempted to catch her, but she ran from them. There were no further sightings of Emma. I came out about five days from the day she went missing.

The track we found went from the front of her home, down the street, through another neighborhood and straight out to El Camino. From there, the track went down El Camino for several miles and through a couple of cities.

Emma's person called the search off at the four hour minimum. He said he would continue to look for Emma.


View Emma in a larger map

Total Distance: 15.49 km (9.6 mi)
Total Time: 3:37:22
Moving Time: 2:14:08
Average Pace: 14.03 min/km (22.6 min/mi)
Average Moving Pace: 8.66 min/km (13.9 min/mi)
Min Pace: 1.90 min/km (3.1 min/mi)
Min Elevation: -34 m (-110 ft)
Max Elevation: -2 m (-7 ft)
Elevation Gain: 515 m (1689 ft)
Max Grade: -1 %
Min Grade: -1 %
Recorded: Tue Nov 09 09:33:11 PST 2010




Day #2:


On November 21, I received a call from Emma's person that she had been receiving calls about either a dog that looks just like Emma or a coyote running in a canyon in the Hillsborough area. Emma can be easily confused with a coyote. She is very similar in size and color and personality. 


I was not available until the 22 since I was out of town, and did not get back to the bay area until 3 PM on that Sunday. I met Emma's person at another sighting just the night before, in the same canyon area. It was definitely Emma. We followed the track around the area of the canyon homes. There were a couple of spots where Emma could have rested for a period of time. Then the track went out and up to Skyline Blvd and continued down and then made a right away from the highway back into the residential area. At this point, we had to stop since it was almost 5 PM and we still had to walk back to the cars. 


Emma's person said she would continue the search on her own. I have not heard if there were any additional sightings as of December 7, 2010



View Emma 2 in a larger map



Total Distance: 4.38 km (2.7 mi)
Total Time: 47:44
Moving Time: 32:43
Average Pace: 10.90 min/km (17.5 min/mi)
Average Moving Pace: 7.47 min/km (12.0 min/mi)
Min Pace: 5.13 min/km (8.3 min/mi)
Min Elevation: 139 m (456 ft)
Max Elevation: 202 m (661 ft)
Elevation Gain: 168 m (552 ft)
Max Grade: 0 %
Min Grade: 0 %
Recorded: Sun Nov 21 16:00:14 PST 2010

Monday, November 8, 2010

"Panda", Shih Tzu, Black and White, Hayward - Found!

Almost one week following her disappearance, Panda was reunited with her people. 


Panda is a three year old, black and white, unspayed Shih Tzu. She is not wearing a collar and does not have a microchip. She walked away from home when a side gate was left open by accident while bringing items back and forth from the car to the house. She was last seen on a Saturday afternoon around 1 PM. Her person describes her as a super friendly dog with all people.

The track we found went to the front of her house and appears that she was picked up almost immediately in front of her own house. The way we can tell is that the track we followed went along one direct path the entire time, and was on the right hand side. The road went all the way, without any deviations for several miles to the on ramp to the 580 freeway heading east, which leads directly to the far easy bay of the Tri-Valley area of Dublin, Pleasanton or Walnut Creek, or even out to Livermore and Stockton.

We have some clues. Since the pick up was between 1 and 2 PM on a Saturday afternoon, and the road Panda was picked up on is a thoroughfare from one area directly to Castro Valley, which is the first city some body would come to if driving west from the distant valley area, we were guessing that they came from the distant valley area for some kind of event in Hayward, like a game or Halloween event. Panda's person was going to check some schools and centers to see what was happening that day.

The person who picked her up probably saw her on the side of the road and did not have the time to look around and ask around, like they should have. Her person said they would put up big signs in the area in case the person who picked her up comes back and starts to look for signs. They started Craigslist ads and newspaper ads immediately.


View Panda in a larger map

Total Distance: 8.17 km (5.1 mi)
Total Time: 1:42:16
Moving Time: 1:11:55
Average Pace: 12.52 min/km (20.1 min/mi)
Average Moving Pace: 8.80 min/km (14.2 min/mi)
Min Pace: 3.92 min/km (6.3 min/mi)
Min Elevation: -8 m (-28 ft)
Max Elevation: 51 m (169 ft)
Elevation Gain: 280 m (920 ft)
Max Grade: 0 %
Min Grade: 0 %
Recorded: Wed Nov 03 09:33:20 PDT 2010

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

"Kobe", DLH, Black and White, Marina - Found!

I received the following email on November 11:
"Kobe is HOME!!!!!. I found him under a house tonight. Thank you for all your prayers!"
He was found under a house in the surrounding neighborhood near the apartment complex.


Search Details:
Kobe is a one and a half year old, black and white, indoor only DLH cat. He is not wearing a collar and does not have a microchip. He was last seen around midnight on a Monday. I was contacted on the following Saturday, but I was out of town until the next Tuesday morning, which is when we did the search. There was a sighting of him on a wall, near the laundry room inside the apartment complex, which is at the back end of the complex.

We started the search there, and it was definitely Kobe's scent. The track went from that spot, across the field and through a small hole in the chain link fence. From there it went around the street and down the street and through another hole in another fence, which led out to the former army base, Fort Ord, and a very large open space. Along the fencing there is a well used horse path, and it was here that Kobe's track continued.

It continued for a couple of miles along this path, and then suddenly left from a large, green, metal ranch type gate. From here it went along a road that goes all the way out to Highway One. Once we got onto the road, I was a little suspicious that Kobe may be been picked up somewhere along the way. Why would a cat that was walking along the nice secluded horse path, suddenly jump out onto the busy road and hug the right hand side the whole time? I thought back along the path, and he was definitely by himself when he entered the open space since the track went through a small opening in the fence. We even had to find another way to enter because we could not fit through that hole in the fence. My best guess is that somewhere along that walking/horse path, somebody was walking or riding and found him, and then had their car just outside that gate waiting and that is why they exited there.

The track continued all the way down the road, across Highway one, through a private agricultural farm and straight to an isolated preserve, where dogs are not allowed. This preserve is totally fence and locked after regular hours. My guess is that this person was a local and knew where that preserve was. It is not marked along the way, except for a small sign as you enter the farm.

Kobe's person stopped the search at the four hour minimum. They said they would continue to look for Kobe.


View Kobe in a larger map

Total Distance: 11.75 km (7.3 mi)
Total Time: 2:39:56
Moving Time: 1:46:26
Average Pace: 13.61 min/km (21.9 min/mi)
Average Moving Pace: 9.06 min/km (14.6 min/mi)
Min Pace: 6.54 min/km (10.5 min/mi)
Min Elevation: -43 m (-142 ft)
Max Elevation: 1 m (4 ft)
Elevation Gain: 396 m (1299 ft)
Max Grade: 0 %
Min Grade: 0 %
Recorded: Tue Nov 02 11:30:30 PDT 2010
Activity type: -