Jennifer Clements and her family were on the way back from a camping trip in Ouray when their car went 300 feet off U.S. Highway 160 just east of Bayfield, rolling 15 feet down an embankment and landing on its side.
“We had stopped and had lunch in Bayfield, and after, everyone got drowsy,” Clements said. “My husband, for the first time ever, got tired, and the next thing we knew, we were off the road.”
In the aftermath of the crash, Clements and her husband, Glenn, checked on their two preschool-aged children and their 17-year-old son, relieved to find no one had suffered critical injuries.
However, when the family freed their 2-year-old black Labrador retriever named R2-D2 (after the droid in Star Wars), the dog, frightened, took off down the highway and into the woods.
That was July 14. Almost two weeks later, after surviving in the San Juan Mountains, R2-D2 was found Wednesday, a little worse for the wear but in relatively good health.
“I just burst into tears,” Clements said when she received the call R2-D2 was found.
After R2-D2 ran off, Clements and her three children went to Mercy Regional Medical Center to check on their injuries. Her 17-year-old suffered a fracture in his lumbar spine.
Her husband stayed at the crash site for about two hours, hoping R2-D2 would return. The next day, the Clementses, who are from Houston but have a second home in Pagosa Springs, started a weeklong search.
Clements said the couple knocked on more than a 100 doors. They made fliers and posted to the Facebook group “La Plata County Lost and Found pets.”
More than 20 people got involved in the search. Neighbors set game-trail cameras, a drone operator volunteered his time for aerial searches and La Plata County Animal Control set traps.
However, after eight days of searching, the Clementses returned to their Houston home.
“I was really sad and despondent when we left,” Clements said. “The only thing that kept me going was ... everyone all just promising me they weren’t going to give up.”
It wasn’t until Wednesday that R2-D2 finally found a family she felt comfortable approaching.
Holly Williams and her husband, Torin Justice, have been camping in an RV near Sauls Creek in the San Juan National Forest with their 4-year-old son and a 1-week-old baby boy since January.
The family is from Texas, Williams said, but moved to Colorado hoping to find a place to buy land and start a farm.
R2-D2 visited Tuesday night, but ran off, Williams said. The dog returned Wednesday morning to play with the family’s puppy and didn’t leave.
“She was real thirsty and hungry, and her coat had thorns in it,” Williams said. “There was no telling what she went through.”
Williams estimated the dog traveled at least 20 miles in two weeks. She called the number on R2-D2’s collar, having no idea there was a $1,000 reward.
“We were just happy to return the dog to her home,” she said.
The Clementses drove back to Southwest Colorado on Thursday to pick up R2-D2. Jennifer Clements said she was going to drop off the reward and pick up supplies for the family.
Clements also started a GoFundMe campaign for the family, hoping people will contribute to a family that finds itself in difficult circumstances.
jromeo@durangoherald.com
