Pet dog found alive days after plane crash
Associated Press
SOMIS - Six days after a small plane crash that killed two members of a family of four, the family's missing dog was found alive by the same pair of teenage brothers who first helped the survivors, authorities said Sunday.
Family friends had been searching for a 9-year-old Dalmatian named Lindsey, who was on the plane but was not found at the crash site.
"We were called loonies," said Bob Jansen, who along with his wife, Shirley, had spent much of the week looking for Lindsey. "They told us we were searching for a dead dog."
Rene Herrera, 17, and his brother, Edgar Herrera, 15, had returned to the Ventura County scene Friday to show friends the place where they pulled Robert Santoro, 43, and his 7-year-old son, Dawson, away from the plane July 1. The Herrera brothers and their friends saw Lindsey in a ditch.
"We all started running toward the dog," Rene Herrera said. "We all took turns cradling it like a baby, and we took it home."
The dog had a ruptured diaphragm and a broken leg and underwent surgery at a Santa Barbara animal hospital Saturday, Jansen said.
Robert Santoro, who was flying the plane and was thrown from it along with Dawson before the aircraft came to a stop, remained in critical condition in a Santa Barbara hospital after his leg was almost severed in the crash, authorities said.
Dawson had only minor injuries. His brother Ian, 5, and their mother were killed.
"The family has gone through hell on Earth, and this is one tiny bright spot," Jansen said. "We can give the family a 55-pound piece of good news."
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This happened near Santa Barbara, ca!!
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