Heffley Lake couple offers hefty reward for missing dog

Photo: Photo Courtesy of Anne Terwiel

Heffley Lake couple offers hefty reward for missing dog

A couple in the Heffley Lake area is offering a $2,500 reward for their beloved dog that went missing seven months ago.

This past December, Anne and George Terwiel let their dogs out for some air as they normally do. When they called the dogs back in for dinner, their 14-month-old Alaskan sled dog named Islay was no where to be found.  

“We searched everywhere. We looked for other wildlife footprints and there were none. We saw that the dogs had made their way up to the popular hunting road near our property called Siwash Creek,” Anne tells Castanet. “We think a hunter might have picked her up and took her home thinking she was a stray.”

Normally, the Terwiels keep collars and tags on their dogs, but Islay had been sick with a cough just a few days prior to her absence. The vet had suggested they take the dog’s collar off until she healed because it was irritating her throat.  

Photo: Photo Courtesy of Anne Terwiel

Heffley Lake couple offers hefty reward for missing dog

After realizing Islay was missing, Anne and George did not waste any time and decided to offer a $500 reward to anyone who brought her home. However, their friends and family decided to pitch in, and brought the reward up to $2,500, an offer that still stands. 

“Within three days, we got a call. We thought it was real,” Anne recalls. “A man claimed he found her; he described her based on the information he found online. We were ready to meet him, but then he told us he wasn’t able to meet us in person. He would leave her in a crate and we could pick her up, if we e-transfer him the reward money. It was clearly a scam.”

That first scam was one of three they would continue to receive over the course of Islay’s seven-month disappearance. 

“The second call was similar, not willing to meet us in person and wanted an immediate e-transfer,” Anne says. “But the third scam was different; the man told us he did not want the reward money; instead, he asked us to just give him $1,000 in Walmart gift cards. He too didn’t want to meet us in person. Another scam.”

Despite those scams, the Terwiels remain optimistic and have decided to continue offering their reward.  

“It’s possible an older hunter who is not social media savvy picked her up, didn’t see her tags, and assumed she was a stray. We love her so much and we are remaining positive,” Anne says.

If you have any information about Islay’s whereabouts, call Anne and George Terwiel at 250-578-7261.