Newly adopted puppy who may not know his name is missing after fatal NC crash, cops say
Update on Wednesday, Sept. 23: Zeus was found on the side of the interstate Tuesday with injured back legs, WLOS reported. The 8-month-old puppy also has a broken back, friends of the family said on Facebook. He has reportedly been taken to a veterinary hospital in Charlotte for treatment.
A 47-year-old woman was killed Monday in a collision on Interstate 40 in North Carolina, according to media outlets and state police.
Now the search is on for her newly-adopted puppy, Zeus, who friends say was riding in the car at the time of the crash.
Sarah Ann McKinney, of Asheville, was pronounced dead after her Honda Pilot hit a guardrail then came to rest “facing the wrong way on the interstate” and another driver in a 2019 Honda Odyssey hit her car head on, the Hickory Daily Record reported.
North Carolina Highway Patrol Master Trooper Jeff Swagger told the Statesville Record & Landmark “McKinney likely survived the initial crash but was killed when a second vehicle hit her Honda Pilot.”
The second driver, a 60-year-old from Hickory, was taken to the Catawba Valley Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries, the Record & Landmark reported.
The accident occurred on I-40 near the Rock Barn Road exit in Catawba County just after 4 a.m., according to Fox 46.
McKinney’s family told WLOS her 8-month-old puppy was in the car at the time of the wreck. The dog’s name is Zeus, but the TV station reported he “was just adopted last week, so he’s not very familiar with his name yet.”
Zeus is white and light brown with blue eyes, according to photos shared by friends and family on social media.
Anyone with information about the dog’s whereabouts is asked to call the N.C. State Highway Patrol or Catawba County Animal Control at 1-800-445-1779 or 828-466-6814.
Sam Moody, who shared pictures of Zeus on Facebook, said he weighs about 70 pounds and “needs to find his way home to Sarah’s kids.”
McKinney was a beekeeper who owned Honey & The Hive in Weaverville, just north of Asheville, according to her Facebok page. The shop was closed Tuesday after the accident.
In a post shared on McKinney’s page, one friend described her as a “vibrant, sweet, gentle bee goddess from our mountains.”
“The bees will be so sad to learn. Probably they knew before me, as all the bees here must know Sarah for her gentle and caring nature,” Marissa Joilette Goettling wrote. “And, I am certain they aid her transition as she has assisted so many of them. Thank you, Sarah McKinney, for all you have done for life and to teach us your art and love of beekeeping. You’ve always been an angel.”
This story was originally published September 22, 2020 at 1:17 PM.
