Thanks to the heroic efforts of a Belgian Shepherd search and rescue dog, four indigenous children who were lost for over a month have been found alive. The children went missing following a plane crash in the Colombian Amazon jungle. Now, the operation continues as rescuers look for the missing search dog who remains lost in the rainforest.
Missing search and rescue dog proved crucial to the operation’s success
The children, who were traveling in a light aircraft on May 1, 2023, are aged 11 months, 4, 9, and 13 years old. It is believed that the engine on the Cessna 206 failed.
The mother of the children, Magdalena Mucutui Valencia, along with the pilot and an indigenous leader, perished in the crash. When the Colombian military found the wreckage, there were no signs of the children. The discovery prompted a massive search effort to look for them in the southeast portion of the nation.
More than 100 men participated in the rescue efforts. Army leaders asserted that it was highly likely the children are still alive in light of the clues they uncovered. Miraculously, the four children were found alive after 40 days in the wilderness.
The Daily Mail reported rescuers identified footprints in the mud belonging to the children. The missing search dog Wilson, a six-year-old Belgian Shepherd, ran away from his handlers a few days before the siblings were discovered. Initially, rescuers believed the dog to be lost until they discovered his paw prints close to the footprints belonging to the children.
“Miracle, Miracle, Miracle, Miracle”
The army’s code for a child found alive, “Miracle, Miracle, Miracle, Miracle” was broadcast on army radios on Friday. Officers repeated it four times to represent all four children.
Wilson proved crucial to the mission – and the miracle. The rescue dog, still missing, stayed by the children’s side for several days before being lost once again. According to the children’s grandfather, who provided an exclusive interview with CNN, the dog became their faithful companion.
Carlos Villegas, a member of the Civil Defense, last saw the Belgian Shepherd on June 8. On the day of the rescue, he saw the dog from 40 meters away.
“My partner tried to play with him, to activate him, to call him to see if he came towards us to catch him,” Villegas told El Tiempo, a Colombian newspaper. “The dog got scared and went out and got lost in the jungle again.”
Officials believe the dog may have experienced an unsettling encounter with a predator or perhaps became confused in the unfamiliar environment. These could be a cause for change in the dog’s ordinary behavior.
Rescued children pay tribute to heroic search dog
The dog’s heroic efforts and subsequent disappearance have made international news. A trending hashtag #VamosPorWilson, translating to “let’s go find Wilson,” has received over 39k views on Twitter as of earlier today.
While the children recover in a hospital in Bogotá, they pay tribute to their faithful canine companion. The Guardian reported drawings from the children depicted the hero dog, Wilson. In one drawing, the Belgian Shepherd stands between trees and a river. Another drawing shows Wilson with the sun, a large flower, and the Colombian flag.
The rescue operation, called ‘Esperanza’ — meaning “hope” in Spanish — proved to be successful. For now, rescuers continue to hope for the return of the missing search dog.
