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A 71-year-old man went on a hike back in August and since has been reported missing. The search for him was ongoing for nearly three months until it came to an end in late October. The body of the hiker, Rich Moore, was found in the southern Colorado mountains. His dog, who had accompanied him on the hike, was found alive next to him.

Rich and his dog, a Jack Russel Terrier by the name of Finney, went for their hike on August 19^th. He planned to hike the Blackhead Peak summit in the Colorado San Juan Mountains. The peak is about 12,500 feet and from this journey, Rich never returned home.

On October 30^th, Moore’s body as well as Finney were discovered in the mountains by a hunter.

Moore had been found approximately two and a half miles east of the mountain top and Finney was right next to him. Finney reportedly lost what seemed to be about half of his body weight when the rescue team finally reached them. Aside from the weight loss, Finney seemed to be in relatively good shape and health.

The official cause of death reported for Moore’s death was exposure/hypothermia. Due to how long he had been in the wilderness, the Coroner’s office was unable to determine the official time or date of death.

The search for Moore was led predominantly by a Facebook based search and rescue page, Taos Search and Rescue.

One member of the Taos Search and Rescue group, Delinda Vanne-Brightyn said, “it just brings us all to tears the loyalty of that dog.” According to experts, this is actually not surprising behavior from Finney. They said that dogs can often be loyal to death. Furthermore, Finney’s breed, the Jack Russell Terrier, is bred to survive in the wilderness. It is instinct for them to hunt small animals, so it is not surprising that he was able to survive by Rich’s side.

This is actually not even the first time a story like this has been told. In 2022, a 74-year-old hiker named Donald Hayes went for a hike in a mountain range in Arizona. He went with his dog, Ranger. The two were reported missing and not found for nearly a week. By the time they found Hayes, he had passed away, but Ranger was still alive and right next to him.