Lost Dog Comes Home After 70 Days: Bella Rose Survived Alaska's Bear Country

Bella Rose, an extra-large American Bully, slipped her leash outside a veterinary clinic in Soldotna, Alaska, on August 26, crossed a highway in rush-hour traffic and disappeared into woods where bears roam. Her owner, Rufus Arroyo, searched for her for 70 days — and finally brought her home on the evening of November 4, at about 9:30 p.m. (Archive image: a dog in the Alaskan snow.)

Seventy days of searching, and an old blanket

After Bella Rose went missing, Arroyo and local animal group Kenai Peninsula Animal Lovers (KPAL) put up posters and set traps, with no sign of her for 70 days. On the evening of November 4, she walked into a pen her owner had set up by the landfill, stepped on her own blanket, triggered the mechanism and the gate closed behind her — safe at last.

A coincidence of timing

By coincidence, the day Bella Rose came home was exactly two years to the day — and the same time of day — that her grandmother, Athena Rose, had died. Arroyo said the 70 days of waiting had finally paid off.