Following the emotional lows and highs of the successful search for four children missing 40 days in the Amazon, the people of Colombia can’t relax yet as they wait for news of a dog still in the jungle after helping find the young plane crash survivors.
Wilson, a Colombian army Belgian shepherd, disappeared during the search for the children after finding several clues that had kept alive hopes the children were still alive, Spanish-language online news service Infobae reported.
Colombians’ attention is riveted on the search for Wilson, with news outlets following developments closely.
Wilson is trending on Twitter, and memes about the lost dog are flooding social media.
People have also been posting in large letters the words “Falta Wilson”, which translates as Wilson is missing, on their homes.
At one point during the search for the children Wilson’s footprints were found near those of the young survivors, and it’s thought he stayed with them for a time.
The children were found alive on Saturday (NZT), having survived in the jungle for 40 days after the light plane they were travelling in crashed, killing the three adults on board.
Astrid Cáceres, director of the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare said the children indicated they had met a dog in the jungle, BBC reported.
The children spoke “of the puppy that was lost, that they do not know where it was and that it accompanied them for a while”.
Colombian TV service Caracol Television quoted army special operations commander General Pedro Sánchez also saying the children had seen Wilson.
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“According to what our children told us, we confirm that the dog Wilson, our commando, was with them quite emaciated, without much to eat there in the middle of the jungle, but we keep our faith intact and we are looking for him.”
Wilson was seen about 30m away from searchers a few days before the children were found, Infobae said.
Searchers tried to get the dog to come back to them, but were unsuccessful, and it was decided not to try to tranquilise the dog.
Another suggestion was that a bitch in heat should join the search to try to attract Wilson.
It’s thought Wilson is proving difficult to find because he’s been trained as an attack dog, rather than for rescue work.
The Colombian army’s military engineers have tweeted a picture of Wilson as a baby.
Translated, the tweet says: “Wilson was born, raised and trained with us. The operation is not over! Our soldiers continue the search day and night to find our four-legged hero.”
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This article originally appeared on Stuff and is republished here with permission.
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