Grieving father to be reunited with beloved dog, thanks to some caring Yukoners

An Oklahoma man, grieving the recent loss of his daughter in a highway accident, has been touched by the kindness of some strangers in Haines Junction, Yukon, who are working to reunite him with his beloved dog.

"I can't even express how much, how much it means for what they have done," said Gary Stockwell on Tuesday.

Ten days ago, Stockwell's 26-year-old daughter, Macey Stockwell, left Fairbanks, Alaska, to make her way to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she was to start a new job as a welder. She had Gary's dog Meena with her for the long road trip.

Gary — relocating along with Macey and Meena to Tulsa — had gone on ahead to get settled in their new home while Macey finished a job in Alaska.  

He was in Tulsa when the accident happened, just outside Haines Junction.  

"She was in a single-car rollover accident. She rolled five times and was ejected from the car," Gary explained, choking up.

Macey didn't survive.

What happened to Meena was initially a mystery. The first-reponders from Haines Junction who attended the accident could tell from some of the things in the vehicle that there had been a dog aboard, but the animal was nowhere to be seen.

Then some local residents started spotting the two-year-old springer spaniel mix, lingering by the side of the highway and darting into the forest if anyone approached.

Meanwhile Gary, mourning his daughter and missing his little dog, took to social media to ask anybody who spotted his dog along the Alaska Highway to contact RCMP in Haines Junction.

Bruce Tomlin, a member of the local volunteer fire department who had responded to the accident, said they decided to set a trap for the dog. Winter was in the air and local residents were worried about the animal.

It took about a week to get Meena, Tomlin said.

"The dog finally decided to get hungry enough to go in the trap, and when that happened we were able to bring her back and yeah, a little bit of a happy part of the story, for sure," Tomlin said.

"She's got a couple of scrapes on her, on her nose and her lip, but other than that she's warmed right up to us ... she's a great dog."

Gary got the "unbelievable" news on Monday evening. He was overjoyed, and amazed at how people in Haines Junction went above and beyond to rescue Meena.  

"Every day for nine days consecutively, people of that community spent their own time walking the accident scene, into the woods, trying to find my dog," he said.

"When I got that phone call last night, I got more sleep last night than I had in 10 days."

Now, Tomlin and others in Haines Junction, including the fire department, RCMP, and local ambulance service, are working to find some money and arrange to reunite Meena and Gary.

"The sad part of the story is losing his daughter," Tomlin said, of Gary.

"But it is nice to see that the community has a lot of spirit behind them, that they want to come out and help and make things a little bit better for him, for sure."

Gary says having Meena with him will be a huge help. He's missing his daughter, but Meena is part of the family too, he says. 

"I just need to figure out how to express my sincere gratitude for the people of that community," Gary said.

"They took their own time. Nobody had to do anything. Nobody could have cared."