‘No one would give up hope’

When Dr. Mark Baker and his wife Andrea left for a long weekend visiting family in Pennsylvania about four hours away from their home in Goshen, they would have never imagined the chain of events that would follow the next day.

It was a Thursday, the Bakers packed up for their weekend getaway and left Bobbi, their eight-month-old Havapoo (a Havanese/miniature poodle mix), with their next-door neighbors as they have a few times before when they were out of town.

The next day, as the neighbor went to take Bobbi for a walk around the neighborhood, Bobbi bolted out of the open garage door. Within seconds she was out of sight.

Searching high and low

Immediately neighbors started searching for Bobbi until a summer rainstorm popped in. Once the rain cleared, the search resumed.

By foot, by car, alone and in groups, the community searched high and low for the pup. One savvy neighbor, Amy Winkler, even took to social media to increase their reach and hopefully bring awareness in the community to the missing puppy.

“Oh, our hearts broke in half when we heard,” Winkler said. “My daughter was outside and heard Bobbi was missing, we all ran right out the door to try to find her. It was devastating. But no one would give up hope. “

Alerted by Amy Winkler’s Facebook posting

Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, the Bakers were having dinner when they discovered that Bobbi was missing.

“I saw a Facebook post that said ‘**Attn. Harness Estates** we need your help. Missing Puppy’ and I looked at the picture and realized was us,” Andrea Baker said. “We quickly said bye to our grandkids and told them we would see them soon, then rushed back home.”

In Harness Estates, the search for Bobbi continued well into the night. Neighbors would work off each other sightings and try to catch her or at minimum help aim her toward home. At some point even, the local fire department and village police became involved, adding searchlights and helping on foot to find the little puppy.

The Bakers arrived home around 3 a.m. Much of the search had slowed down at that point but they drove to where Bobbi was last seen and called for her to no avail.

They headed home deflated.

“I don’t think I slept much that night,” Andrea Baker said. “I was so worried.”

The new day started and soon everyone was back out looking for Bobbi.

“It was then I heard a loud thump on the garage door,” Andrea Baker recalled. “At first I thought it was Mark in the garage but then I opened the door and there was Bobbi”

Lead home by local neighbors, the Singh family, Bobbi finally made it back into the arms of her family.

‘This outstanding, caring and lovely community’

“Even in one of the darkest moments in our lives, we feel so blessed and fortunate to live in this outstanding, caring and lovely community,” Andrea Baker said. “Words cannot express our gratitude and love to all our devoted neighbors and policemen during our family crisis.

“It is with great joy that we can end our story on a happy note.”