Lost pets may be trekking across northern Nevada

Thursday, Feb. 20, 2003 | 4:56 a.m.

REGIONAL ED: Attribute to nvren

RENO, Nev.- Smokey and Red probably don't know it, but they've become much sought-after celebrities during a five-month trek across northern Nevada.

If they hold their course, the black Labrador retriever and an Irish setter-border collie mix could show up in the Reno-Sparks area any day, their owner said.

Bill Havens of Fairfield, Ill., has been searching for his pets since Sept. 21, when he lost them in a traffic accident on Interstate 80 near West Wendover on the Nevada-Utah line.

Since then, he's been tracking the dogs with help from strangers in Elko and motorists along the I-80 corridor.

Havens believes the dogs may heading to their old home in northern California.

"I need eyes out there," Havens told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "They should be reaching Sparks."

Jennifer Slavin of Battle Mountain said she spotted the dogs Sunday near I-80 outside Fernley, 30 miles east of Reno.

"I know they're the dogs," said Slavin, who has seen pictures of Smokey and Red. "The red one was resting, and the black one was standing up. They should be in Reno now."

Steve Murphy in Elko, who is coordinating the search and updating Havens, said the dogs now are probably following the Truckee River.

"If they get found, this is going to be one of those unbelievable stories," Murphy said.

Havens said he was driving a sport utility vehicle and pulling a trailer when the accident involving large truck occurred.

There were six dogs in the trailer. Havens, his wife, Kim, and their children found four, but not Smokey and Red.

The family spent the next week searching before giving up and moving on.

But they left word with animal shelters and sent out flyers and photographs. The Nevada Highway Patrol in Elko County alerted other law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout.

The insurance company that covered the other truck involved in the accident paid for a professional tracker to look for the dogs.

When the Havens family reached Illinois, they started getting calls from people who thought they'd seen the dogs, first in Elko, then Carlin, then Battle Mountain and, finally, Fernley.

At one point, the trail was hot in Elko, where police say there were several reports in mid-December of two dogs running loose that fit the description left by Bill Havens.

Excited by the news, Bill Havens and his oldest son, Justin, left southern Illinois on Dec. 16, drove straight through and arrived in Elko the next afternoon.

Havens and his son picked up the trail outside of town.

"There had been snow," Bill Havens said. "We followed their tracks as best we could.

"We ended up having to get off the road and go through the wilderness. About seven miles in, we lost the tracks. But it was them."

Information from: Reno Gazette-Journal