When John Stringer boarded a flight back to Leeds, he wasn’t returning from a relaxing family holiday in Turkey—he was rushing home, heart pounding, desperate to find his missing dog. His two-year-old cockapoo, Molly, had vanished from his elderly mother’s cottage in Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire, while he was away. What followed was a week-long search that would draw in a network of volunteers, drones, and the power of social media, culminating in a reunion that captured hearts across the country.
According to reports from SWNS and the Harrogate Advertiser, the ordeal began on August 25, 2025. John’s mother, looking after Molly, let her out for a routine evening walk. But Molly, small—only about 12 inches tall at the shoulder—and sprightly, surprised everyone by leaping over a four-and-a-half-foot garden wall. "She had then run down the road looking for my car and when my scent disappeared, she had gotten herself lost running in the wrong direction trying to find it again," John recounted to Harrogate Advertiser. The Yorkshire Dales are vast, and for a small dog, the possibilities were endless—and worrying.
John’s sister, Carolyn Oakley, wasted no time. She posted a call for help on Facebook, and the response was immediate. Messages poured in from locals and animal lovers alike, all eager to help. Among them was Vivienne Hanson, a seasoned volunteer with the Bradford-based charity Busters Animal SOS Team. Vivienne, 60, is no stranger to lost dog rescues, but each case is a race against time and the elements. She quickly mobilized a search team, including volunteer Andrew Gilpin, 67, who drove over an hour to Pateley Bridge armed with cameras and a drone.
That first night, hope flickered. Cameras were set up outside the cottage, baited with sausages, bacon, chicken, liver, and gravy. But Molly was nowhere to be seen. The trail went cold until Thursday, when a gamesman reported seeing a small dog dart in front of his car near Gouthwaite Reservoir—about six miles from home. Vivienne sprang into action, contacting the farmer for the exact location and searching for signs. She found paw prints and evidence of Molly’s presence near a stream, but the elusive cockapoo remained out of reach.
Throughout the week, John barely slept. "All night I was lay in bed waiting for follow up messages from my sister about what was happening," he told SWNS. The search felt like a game of cat and mouse, with Molly always one step ahead. Vivienne explained the psychological state of a lost dog: "Vivienne told me that Molly had entered into flight mode so she was just focused on surviving—finding food, water, and shelter, rather than being found." That instinct made the rescue even trickier.
By Monday, September 8, a full week since Molly’s disappearance, the breakthrough finally came. Molly was spotted rolling on her back in a farmer’s field, about a mile and a half from the cottage. The team—John, his 16-year-old daughter Emily, Vivienne, and Andrew—hurried to the field. Vivienne orchestrated a careful rescue plan: "I told John to walk to a far fence and sit with his back to her. I told them to say her name and talk about her in the voice they use whilst at home. Molly knew that someone was in the field, but they weren't causing harm. Andy had already got his drone in the air, just in case she decided to do a runner, so we would be able to follow her. He had also put on his old clothes so that his smell would be picked up by her in the wind. Luckily, the wind was blowing in her direction—they also had bacon butties, which helped."
It was a tense 20 minutes. Molly, cautious but curious, slowly made her way toward John, then, catching a familiar scent, bolted straight into Emily’s arms. "In that moment, it was just a huge relief. I was very pleased to have her back," John told SWNS. The emotional reunion was captured by drone footage, showing Molly racing across the field and leaping into her family’s embrace. "That week was a rollercoaster, everything was on a knife-edge, I was expecting bad news at any moment, but for it to end that way was just immense. It was one heck of a week with many sleepless nights."
Molly’s ordeal wasn’t quite over. She was taken to the vet for a check-up and a tapeworm injection, then given a much-needed bath and a session with the hairdryer—emerging, as John joked, "a pom-pom." For a couple of days, she was a bit shaken, but soon she was back on the sofa, lying on her back and watching TV, right where she belonged.
The rescue was a testament not only to the dedication of volunteers but also to the evolving role of technology in animal searches. Drones, thermal imaging, and social media have become vital tools in reuniting lost pets with their families. This isn’t just a UK phenomenon. In Rocky River, Ohio, a similar story played out when Sonja Jarmoszuk’s 15-year-old Portuguese water dog, Pumpkin, went missing. After 27 hours of searching, she enlisted Craig Fazenbaker of Grunt Deer Recovery LLC, who used a thermal drone to spot Pumpkin tangled in vines on a steep embankment near Lake Erie. "As soon as my arms went around her, that’s when her tail was just instantly going to town like hey someone’s picking me up I’m safe now," Fazenbaker told WOIO. Within 20 minutes, Pumpkin was back with her relieved owner.
Fazenbaker emphasized the importance of seeking professional help quickly, especially with older or vulnerable animals. "We firmly believe that the owner did an AMAZING JOB on know when to reach out and ask for help," he wrote on Facebook. "With her being so high in age Pumpkin would have 100% not have gotten free."
Vivienne Hanson, reflecting on Molly’s rescue, offered advice for anyone who finds a lost dog: "The worst thing you can do is try and get its attention and grab it. We have lost dogs that way as they can run away and into the road and in front of a car because they are scared of you. The best thing you can do is take down its location and report it to the owner then steps can be taken to capture it." For Vivienne, each reunion is special: "It is always heart-warming and such a relief when they find them—it really just never gets old."
These stories, from the Yorkshire Dales to the shores of Lake Erie, remind us of the lengths people will go for their pets, the power of community, and the promise of hope even when things seem bleakest. For John, Emily, and Molly—and for Sonja and Pumpkin—home is a little sweeter, and the bonds of love a little stronger, after a journey they’ll never forget.
