A dog named Lucy is back home with her family in Crawfordsville after going missing June 7, a disappearance that ended nearly 500 miles away in Omaha, Nebraska, thanks to a drone pilot’s determination, a viral Facebook post, and help from local law enforcement.
Amanda Richardson reached out to Jeremy Norton of Drone Heroes the evening Lucy slipped out of a gate that had come unlatched during stormy weather. Norton was tied up with another commitment that night but promised to be there first thing the next morning.
“I could tell she was very upset,” Norton said. “When I got there, I could tell she was hurting pretty bad because of the whole situation.”
Norton had already studied maps of the area and launched a drone survey early Sunday morning, June 8. Although the search that day was unsuccessful, Norton wasn’t giving up.
“I get emotionally wrapped up in what I do, but I truly believe that’s what makes me good at it,” Norton said. “I told Amanda this isn’t over we will get her home.”
Back home, Norton created a Facebook post about Lucy that quickly gained traction. It was shared more than 300 times and soon brought in crucial leads.
Tips began pouring in: first, a woman reported seeing Lucy near a Holiday Inn Express. Another claimed she had seen someone capture Lucy at a Cracker Barrel nearby. Richardson took the tip to the Crawfordsville Police Department. Officers Tony Bowen and Luke McVay began combing through area surveillance footage — including videos from Speedway, Circle K, and Cracker Barrel.
One woman was spotted on camera trying to coax Lucy for more than 30 minutes in the Cracker Barrel parking lot. Still, it wasn’t until Thursday morning that footage provided a clear shot of a Nebraska license plate. With that, CPD tracked the vehicle and located the woman, who had driven back to Omaha.
“She was on her way to Indianapolis to pick up her grandkids when she found Lucy,” Richardson said. “She thought someone had dumped her in the parking lot.”
Once contacted by police, the woman was cooperative but unable to make the return trip. Without hesitation, Richardson and her mother drove the eight-and-a-half hours to Omaha to bring Lucy home.
The reunion was unforgettable.
“She came out from the parking garage and then she saw me,” Richardson said. “I did my high-pitched wheeze I always use with her, and she just knew. She darted right to me — jumped up, licked my hands. That’s our thing. I grab her tongue when she does that.”
After six days on her own, Lucy was clearly exhausted. “You can just tell she went through some emotional distress,” Richardson said. “She wasn’t eating much until the third day back.”
Lucy’s escape happened in a moment of distraction while the family was doing yard work. “I was just about to light the grill when I asked, ‘Hey guys, where’s the dog at?’” Richardson said. “And then it hit us.”
Since then, Richardson has purchased an AirTag to add to Lucy’s collar to avoid any future escapes.
“She was a missing member of my family,” Richardson said. “Getting her home was the only thing that mattered.”
Richardson credits Norton’s persistence and the power of social media with helping to crack the case. “If it weren’t for Jeremy, we wouldn’t have even known she was in Nebraska.”
Norton, meanwhile, said the experience reinforced why he does what he does. “Amanda had no quit in her. I already had it in my mind I was going to do whatever it took to help this lady find her baby.”
As for Lucy, Richardson is sure she’ll soon be back to doing the things she loves: chasing squeaky toys, playing fetch, and trotting proudly around on the family trampoline — where, as Richardson puts it, “she acts like she’s in the circus.”
