By Ben Cox
Photos/Special to The Source
After days of frigid temperatures, snow-covered streets and a community-wide search, a missing eight-month-old West Highland terrier puppy was found alive the afternoon of Monday, Jan. 26, bringing relief and celebration to dog lovers across Jacksonville.
Two West Highland terrier puppies, Bob and Willa, went missing Thursday, Jan. 22 from the Westwinds neighborhood on the city’s northwest side as snow showers moved in and temperatures plunged. Bob was found the following day on Jan. 23, several blocks away hiding behind Little Red Wagon daycare on West Lafayette Avenue. But Willa remained missing as the region endured subzero temperatures and dangerous wind chills over the next several days.
As concern grew, social media posts about the missing puppy spread rapidly, prompting dozens of residents to keep watch in their neighborhoods, share sightings and brave the cold in hopes of finding her.
Tiny, young Willa was finally located early in the afternoon on Jan. 26.
Madalyn Vaughn, one of the women who found Willa, recounts the dramatic moment the puppy was discovered.
According to Vaughn, she received a call from Elizabeth Lynch who asked her if someone might be able to watch Vaughn’s three boys so that Lynch and Vaughn could go search for Willa. After arranging childcare, the pair began driving through areas where Willa had last been spotted, including along West College Avenue near Guse’s Pub and the Jacksonville Public Library.
Lynch began checking side streets while Vaughn acted as the lookout. As they turned north onto South Diamond Street from Anna Street, Vaughn spotted something that stopped them in their tracks.
“I yelled ‘STOP!’” Vaughn says. Lynch slammed on the brakes, pulled into a nearby driveway, and Vaughn jumped out of the car and ran.
Willa was sitting in a backyard behind a chain-link fence, staring at Vaughn. Lynch quickly turned the car around on snow-covered Diamond Street while Vaughn called out that she had found the dog.
As Vaughn approached, Willa ran deeper into the yard toward a wooden fence. Fearing the puppy would escape through an opening, Vaughn chased after her through the snow.
“She started growling at me, and I basically had to tackle her down in the snow or she would have escaped,” Vaughn shares.
Lynch ran up the street to meet her, and the two were overcome with emotion as they realized they had found Willa.
The women knocked on the door of the nearby house to confirm they weren’t taking someone else’s dog, but no one answered. Confident it was Willa, they wrapped her in a towel and held her close for warmth inside the car while contacting Willa’s owner.
Despite spending multiple days alone in freezing temperatures, Willa survived.
“Our community needed something good,” Vaughn says. “She braved the cold for multiple days and proved herself as a fighter. Willa is the hero.”
Willa has since been reunited with her family, Claire and Brian Collins, and the story has continued to resonate with residents as a reminder of the power of community, perseverance and hope—even in the harshest winter conditions and recent tragedy that has struck the community.
Claire Collins also shared after the whole ordeal. She says, “Losing Bob and Willa was quite the emotional experience for our family and we are still shocked by the amount of attention we received while trying to find them. Bob was missing for over 24 hours and eventually found behind Little Red Wagon in one of their horse stalls. My husband and I considered ourselves lucky for finding Bob and prepared ourselves for potentially not finding Willa at all with the cold weather and snow predicted for our area. However, thanks to the help of friends, family and even internet strangers, people continued to share our posts and even go out searching for Willa. She was eventually found after five days by two women who had seen our posts on Facebook and decided to go looking one more time. Both dogs are healthy, and happy to be home. We are so thankful to live in such a supportive community.”
