With a good sense of direction, anyone can find their way back home.
Enter Grace Murphy’s 3-year-old dog, Ember, a great Pyrenees golden retriever mix who ran off while visiting her parents, Joel and Jamie Anderson, who live in the country near Solway — about 10 miles from Bemidji. Ember disappeared on Oct. 3 into the nearby woods hours before Grace and her family headed home.
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Murphy, who now lives in Moorhead with her husband, Roderick, and their three young children, did everything they could to find Ember. She, her parents, siblings and numerous friends searched extensively in the area where Ember went missing; they posted fliers; they posted in lost pet groups on social media; they contacted retrievers, shelters, local sheriff’s offices and even put out a scent trail — all to no avail.
“My boys have been raised with her,” Murphy said. “Every time we would leave my parents to come back to Moorhead after not finding her, my 4-year-old cried consistently. ‘We can’t leave yet without Ember. We haven’t found her yet.’ ”
However, life had to go on, and about two weeks later, the Murphy family traveled to Washington state for Grace’s sister’s wedding.
After exhausting every avenue in search of Ember for more than two weeks, the family feared the worst: Ember was gone.
But a string of fortuitous Facebook connections led the Murphys to locate their beloved dog, crazily enough, some 60 miles away from where she originally went missing.
While in Washington, Murphy received a Facebook message from someone who used to live in Fertile. The concerned individual noticed a post in a Fertile Flea Market Facebook group from Tammie Campbell who found a dog in Fertile that looked eerily similar to Ember, with one caveat: the found stray dog in question was listed as a boy.
“I pulled up the picture on my phone and immediately was like, ‘Oh my goodness, that’s Ember,’ ” Murphy recalled. “I was just bawling. We were all so excited.”
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Murphy, friends and family all tried their best to contact Campbell, but it was 10 p.m. in Washington, which meant it was midnight in Minnesota, and the excited bunch had to wait until morning to discover if it truly was Ember.
“My dad had teased me. He had told me originally, ‘It’s not like we’re gonna find her in Mahnomen… this isn’t Homeward Bound,’ ” Murphy recounted. “He was standing there when we found out she was in Fertile. He was like, ‘Maybe she was coming home.’ ”
After squarely identifying Ember from her unique, crocheted collar, Murphy sent a family member who was still back at home in Minnesota to pick her up from Campbell, and the tale was nearly complete.
When the family member arrived, Ember was excited to see familiar faces and finally relaxed, sleeping throughout the car ride home.
When the Murphys returned home from the wedding trip and finally locked eyes with Ember after being separated for nearly three weeks, a watershed of emotion enveloped the family.
“She’s a fairly decent-sized dog, so she’s not allowed to jump up. But she scratched that and just jumped up on top of me and wouldn’t stop whining and wagging her tail,” Murphy recalled. “She was so happy, so excited, and then she saw my little boys and could not stop licking them and whining. Like, ‘Oh, these are my family.’ ”
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Ember’s stay in Fertile
Ember was found in Fertile on Oct. 14, by Campbell, 11 days after she went missing. However, her trek to Fertile still remains a mystery.
Campbell said she found Ember lying near her outdoor shed. Initially startled, Campbell was taken aback by how much Ember resembled her late dog, Angel. Furthering this resemblance, Ember was lying on Angel’s grave marker.
“Our dog has been gone for five years now, and it was almost like she was reincarnated to this bigger dog with the same personality, everything,” Campbell said. “The places that she would lay in our yard were the exact places our dog would lay. To see her laying under a certain tree looking up at squirrels or laying on our back deck (reminded me of Angel).”
Ember was skittish and seemed malnourished. She would not let Campbell near her — leading to the false identification on the Facebook post — but she simultaneously did not want to leave Campbell’s yard, which is not fenced in.
“She’s a good dog. I would go for walks every day and she would want to follow me, and I’d say, ‘No, you got to stay,’ and she’d stay in our yard,“ Campbell said. “She must have felt loved and protected and she definitely was protecting me because anybody who would drive by or come up, she would start barking and let me know if somebody was there. She’s very smart.”
Campbell began feeding Ember and started the search for her owners. She made Facebook posts, contacted local retrievers, and even contacted the city, which looked through a database and found no matches.
“I was going to keep her until we found the owners. I wasn’t going to turn her over,” Campbell said. “I didn’t want to let her go because you don’t know what’s going to happen to them after they leave you.”
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After three days, Campbell finally gained Ember’s trust and was able to pet the skittish dog. After five days, as temperatures began to drop, Ember came inside and slept on Angel’s old bed.
The very next morning, Oct. 19, Campbell and Murphy were finally in contact, formulating a plan to ensure Ember’s safe return home, ending the improbable journey.
“Not everybody has compassion for animals. I think Ember knew where to land when she found a spot because my whole family’s got a soft spot for animals,” Campbell said about why she helped Ember.
“I’m so glad she is in a good home,” she added. “That’s just the icing on the cake.”
The happy ending
Murphy was very thankful for Campbell’s dedication to Ember.
“Ember is very intuitive. If there’s a sick person in the house, she doesn’t leave their side. If you’re crying, she’ll hop up on your lap, even though she’s a huge dog,” Murphy said. “She senses emotion and knows when people love her or don’t love her. I’m sure she just knew Tammie loved her and was like, ‘OK, this is a good place to stop.’ ”
For Campbell, it was an exciting week. She thanks the power of social media for reuniting Ember with her family.
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Now, everyone involved can say they’ve made a friend.
The two women are still in touch, as Murphy has extended an invitation for Campbell to come see Ember whenever she is in Moorhead.
The Campbell family was on the fence about adopting another dog, but if they did, they wanted either a great Pyrenees or a golden retriever. Ember is the best of both worlds.
Thus, Campbell has offered Murphy her services as a dog-sitter if she ever needs it. In return, Murphy has offered Campbell one of Ember’s potential puppies, if she ever has a litter.
Campbell said she is not likely to adopt another dog. However, her daughter would welcome one of Ember’s puppies with open arms.
Murphy is still in awe of Campbell’s kindness toward their special family pet and is so appreciative of the role she played in bringing Ember home.
“(It was a) huge relief, and honestly, it just felt like a miracle,” Murphy added. “We’re so thankful.”
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