Mississippi woman makes shocking discovery while getting the mail
After hearing crying coming from a nearby storm drain, residents in one small town came together in the best way possible to make a heroic rescue.
A woman heard the sounds of a crying dog coming from a storm drain near her mailbox. Residents worked with local police to get the helpless dog to safety.
One lucky puppy is now recovering thanks to the heroic acts of several residents in a western Mississippi town last week.
A woman who lives in Kingston, Mississippi, which is near the Louisiana-Mississippi border in Adams County, heard faint crying when she went out to get her mail in mid-August. Last week, as the woman walked to her mailbox again, the crying was more consistent, which prompted her to investigate.
ACSO Master Sgt. David Nations and ACSO deputy Karen Hollan Ewing with "King" after he was rescued from a storm drain in western Mississippi. (Adam’s County Sheriff’s Office / Deputy Karren Ewing)
The woman then made a shocking discovery: A puppy was stuck inside a nearby storm drain.
Immediately, the woman called the Adams County Sheriff's Office (ACSO) to make a report.
"When I got there, I spoke to the complainant, she said she'd been hearing a dog which she thought was across the road in the woods for about three days," ACSO Master Sgt. David Nations told AccuWeather in an interview. "She went outside to check her mail between the thunderstorms and she heard something and she went over to this concrete culvert that sits there by the road and she saw the dog down there."
After Nations placed a call to the county road crews, a backhoe was brought in to help remove the concrete slab from the top of the drain. But now Nations faced a new challenge -- the 8-foot drop between him and the scared puppy.
ACSO Master Sgt. David Nations scaling down a ladder to rescue "King" from a storm drain in western Mississippi. (Adam’s County Sheriff’s Office / Deputy Karren Ewing)
ACSO deputy Karen Hollan Ewing told AccuWeather in an interview that she wasn't going to let Nations -- who had just returned back to work from a bad knee -- jump 8 feet down to get the dog. She instead called a couple of her friends who weren't at work to bring a ladder to help out.
Once the ladder was in place, Nations scaled down the ladder. He described the wet puppy as "extremely tired" and "weak."
"I know the dog had water," Nations said, noting that showers had impacted the region each day. Daily high temperatures were in the mid- to upper 80s.
"King" a few days after being rescued from the drain. (Adam’s County Sheriff’s Office / Deputy Karren Ewing)
According to Ewing, the puppy was covered in fleas and ticks and appeared to be attacked by a swarm of fire ants, which also attacked Nations while he was in the drain rescuing the dog.
Officers went around asking neighbors if the dog belonged to them, but "no one claimed him," Ewing said.
Ewing said the dog was named King, in honor of the Kingston community members that found him. King has been sent to a local veterinary clinic where he is still recuperating.
"From the caller to the rescuers, teamwork brings all of us together," ACSO wrote in a post on its Facebook page.
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