A few months ago, Idyllwild local Maureen McElligott adopted a 6-year-old dog name Radar from Loving All Animals in Coachella. After losing her longtime, four-legged companion Rusty to cancer a couple of weeks earlier, McElligott found Radar and instantly had a bond.

McElligott, who lives alone, relied on Rusty to keep her company, especially during these unprecedented times. With Rusty gone, she felt the need for a new companion.

“I’ve never done that before,” McElligott said. “I’ve never gotten a new dog within a couple of weeks after an old dog has died. This time, I felt living by myself and mostly working from home, I needed to have a dog. He’s brought me absolute joy.”

Radar is a Labrador Retriever and Chihuahua mix. Radar bonded with McElligott and has been by her side ever since she brought him home.

Unfortunately, Radar has had trouble adjusting when McElligott is away.
With the pandemic and many people working remotely, McElligott is home a majority of the time. As a hospice chaplain at Redlands Community Hospital, McElligott still has to travel to Redlands, occasionally leaving Radar in the trusted hands of his familiar pet sitter.

On Dec. 15, McElligott was called into work on her day off. Due to the unforeseen schedule change, McElligott was scrambling to find someone to watch Radar. Her dog sitter was not available and a friend kept an eye on him until she returned.

Around 6 p.m. just before McElligott got back to pick him up, Radar managed to escape from the yard after the gate was left open by accident.
For the next six days, Radar was on the run and nobody could stop him. Many people spotted him but were unable to catch him.

He originally escaped from lower Pine Crest Avenue. He was seen down in the creek bed on River Drive, South Circle Drive, Tahquitz Drive, Fern Valley Road, Glen Road and everywhere between.

“We had sightings every day,” McElligott said. “The last sighting was on Friday night and I was starting to lose hope. I lost hope a few times, but I believe miracles can happen and that he could come home.”

One thing Idyllwild always does is help each other when times get rough and situations like this arise. Many people in the community took time out of their busy lives to help search for Radar.

Holly Owens, Diane D’Arcy, Elaine Balkman, Miles Thomas and Julie Lively were just a few of the dozens of people out night and day trying to find Radar. Even strangers from out of town assisted in the search.

“I was stopping people on the street asking if they had seen him,” McElligott said. “They weren’t even locals and said they saw the signs I put up in town and would help look for him.”

With coyotes, bobcats and mountain lions, the odds of finding a 30-pound dog dwindle with each passing day. Just when all hope was lost, Radar‘s adventure came to an end.

“This morning [Monday, Dec. 21], I’m working from home and I got a call about 10:30 a.m. from a really lovely lady living on South Circle Drive who said she had Radar,” McElligott said. “She had opened her front door and Radar was sitting on her porch. I think he was just exhausted. He was skinny. His ribs were showing. He was muddy and his paws were raw. When I went to get him, I just burst into tears when I saw him. I was so excited to see him.”

McElligott, who has had two knee replacements, was unable to search many areas on her own. If it wasn’t for the generosity of the community, it could’ve been a very different outcome. She expressed her gratitude to all those who helped search for Radar and has been overwhelmed by the kindness she’s received.

In the hopes of preventing future incidents, McElligott plans to buy a GPS tracker to put on Radar’s dog collar.