Dog swims, walks nearly 20 miles to reunite with family

A dog that was lost after falling off a boat into Lake Michigan in the Manitou Passage was reunited with her owners after surviving a strenuous swim and an even more grueling walk.

Rylee was lost, found and lost again, after she was scooped out of the lake by a fisherman who turned her loose on the shore at remote Empire Beach.

Mr Kasas, 56, told ABC the dog must have fallen out while he was fixing a mechanical problem and his wife was steering. “My poor assumption was that she would go back into the cabin with her dad”.

The Casas’ say they owe the safe return of their pup to Fiedor. “We were gone for maybe 10 minutes, and then we couldn’t find her anywhere on the boat and she was nowhere to be seen in the water”.

Casas says he sent out a mayday call on the radio.

Lynn told her husband how she believed the dog would react and put out additional calls in an unsuccessful search for a drone operator who would be willing to help.

The wife of one of the fishermen who runs a volunteer group that searches for lost dogs immediately began posting about Rylee on social media.

“A lady said she had seen the dog going into the Platte River Campground”, Fiedor said.

“When I saw that, I thought, ‘We are going to find the dog, ‘” a tearful Fiedor said.

A family friend posted Rylee’s picture on a popular Facebook page that connects families with missing pets, For the Love of Louie.

The couple said Rylee must have swam about 6 miles to shore before traveling more than 12 miles on foot before she was found.

The couple parked up and were told by Ms Fiedor to mark their scent on the vehicle and lie down with the dog’s food and toys.

“We have a happy ending”, said Lynn. “I told Ed I just wanted the permission to come up and give the dog a hug”.