For weeks this fall, flyers around Moab asked residents to keep an eye out for a missing dog. Behind those posters was a long search that stretched across the desert, brought the dog’s owners back to Moab multiple times, and involved local volunteers and a dog behaviorist before the dog was finally found.
Lex and the couple’s younger dog, Blaze, had accompanied them on hikes around town before the couple went out to dinner, celebrating their anniversary, on the evening of Nov. 2.
The dogs were left at the Airbnb, with Blaze in a kennel and Lex loose in the house. The couple locked the door before leaving, but didn’t realize the handle-style doorknob did not lock from the inside. Lex, who already knew how to open that type of door at home, let herself out.
A nearby couple saw Lex get loose and tried to stop her, worried she might run into traffic. Instead, the attempt startled her and sent her running, so the passerby called the property manager.
Scott and her husband got the call, left dinner early and searched for hours, looking until about 3 a.m. Over the next several days, they stayed in Moab longer than planned, hiking, putting up posters and calling out for Lex.
Eventually, the couple had to return home to Kansas, but the search didn’t stop. A few locals offered to continue looking and relayed possible sightings—”true angels,” Scott calls them. Over the following weeks, reports came in sporadically, though none could be confirmed with photos.
Early on, Scott connected with Trisha Anderson, a professional dog trapper and behavior specialist based in Salt Lake City who works under the name Trusted Trappers. That conversation changed how Scott understood the situation.
Lost dogs, Anderson explained, don’t necessarily behave the way owners expect. Especially for skittish dogs like Lex, fear can push them into a kind of survival mode. They may not recognize familiar people, even their owners, and may run if approached or chased.
“It’s almost like the pet part of their brain turns off and it’s just 100 percent survival,” Scott said. “They don’t know they’re missing. They just know they’re scared.”
That guidance also shaped the language on the posters themselves. Rather than urging people to try to catch Lex, the signs asked anyone who spotted her not to chase her and instead call immediately. The goal was to avoid spooking her further and to track her movements without pushing her deeper into the desert.
According to Anderson, most lost dogs stay relatively close to where they go missing, often within a few miles. In Lex’s case, nearly all reported sightings were within about a 2.5-mile radius. Later measurements showed she was found about 2.2 miles from where she escaped.
Scott and her husband returned to Moab multiple times, making the roughly 13-hour drive back from Kansas. At different points, Scott, her husband, Anderson herself, and even a drone operator traveled to Moab to help with the search. Between those visits, local volunteers kept looking.
Residents went door to door, checked Ring cameras, and reported sightings. The Grand County Sheriff’s Office helped deploy deputies during some searches, and the animal shelter loaned a dog trap. Posters went up across town and in outlying areas, including Sand Flats Recreation Area.
The breakthrough came the Friday after Thanksgiving.
Earlier sightings had suggested Lex might be in the Sand Flats area, though none were certain. That afternoon, hikers — including a group of base jumpers — spotted a dog on a cliff near the Sand Flats Recreation Area and called the number on the posters. They sent a photo, and this time, Scott knew it was her.
Scott’s husband drove out to the area as darkness fell. Though it was risky to search at night, he went anyway, hoping to confirm Lex’s location and set up a feeding station. The idea was to place food and a camera where Lex might feel safe enough to return, eventually allowing her to be trapped safely if needed.
Instead, something else happened.
As he worked to set up the feeding station, accompanied by Blaze, Lex suddenly appeared. According to Scott, he barely had time to turn around before Lex ran up to him, whining and wagging her tail.
“It was perfect timing: right place, right time,” Scott said. “I’m just so thankful he was there that weekend.”
After weeks in the desert, Lex was finally home.
A veterinary exam a few days later showed that Lex had lost about 21 pounds during her time in the desert, but she was otherwise healthy. Her heart, lungs, and blood work were normal, and aside from some scrapes and burrs in her coat, she had avoided serious injury.
Now back in Kansas, Lex is recovering and settling back into routine life.
Scott said the experience is still sinking in, but she wanted to be clear about one thing: she and her husband are deeply grateful for the help they received in Moab.
“People took time out of their day to look for her, to call in sightings, and to follow the instructions on the posters,” Scott said. “We didn’t know most of them, and they didn’t owe us anything. For being a 13-hour drive away, we felt incredibly supported.”
After weeks of uncertainty, the posters came down. The answer many people around town had been wondering about was simple—and happy: the dog was found.
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