ELKO, Nev. - The biggest Christmas present came a day late this year for Lee and Irene DellaSilva of Ogden, Utah. But it's one they'll never forget. Eight days after the DellaSilvas' 6-year-old poodle, Miss Lizzie, was lost during a rollover accident east of Carlin, a Union Pacific crew spotted the black pooch Monday morning on railroad tracks near the crash site.
"It is an act of God as far as I am concerned," said Lee DellaSilva. "This just renews our faith in the Christmas miracle."
Miss Lizzie's travels began after she fled the DellaSilvas' vehicle following the accident the Sunday before Christmas.
Rescuers kept them from searching for their pet. Then they had to leave the area.
Over eight days, Miss Lizzie traveled without food through coyote territory before lying down in exhaustion on a railway trestle crossing.
The poodle was spotted and rescued by a Union Pacific crew thanks to a "missing dog" poster that the DellaSilvas had provided to a UP outpost.
Since she was on the tracks, they assumed she was dead. Then she weakly popped up her head.
The crew put the train into an emergency stop and went back to rescue the dog, warmed her up, dried her off, cleaned her up and placed her snugly in a work bag for a ride back home.
As part of their search for Miss Lizzie, the DellaSilvas were offering a $1,000 reward. The train crew is donating the reward to the Dogtown Rescue organization.
"It is just something totally weird," engineer Mike Kessler said. "This just doesn't happen. Especially with something this small ... . We call her Lucky Lizzie now"
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