RIO RANCHO, N.M. (KRQE) – “Well I dream about him every night, you know, you wake up and I think he’s still in my bed and I got to take him out.” It’s been nearly two months since Paul Rush went to that doctor’s appointment in Rio Rancho. Little did he know that would be the last time he his bestfriend, Spot. His blind 18-year-old Cocker Spaniel. “I think about when I eat, oh my gosh I wonder, I hope he’s eating.”
His truck was stolen outside the Sandoval Regional Medical Center, with Spot inside on January 31st. Since then, Rush who’s from Anthony, New Mexico has been back almost once a week searching high and low for Spot. “I’m still on the hopes he’s alive and maybe someone has him that doesn’t know he’s missing.”
But he’s not doing it alone. Spot’s disappearance has made waves on social media, leading to dozens searching all across the metro with ATV’s and even Drones. One of those putting boots on the ground is Karen Gates, who’s been traveling all the way from Farmington to help. “I had to go help search for him. Sitting up here, you know, three hours north, it’s just not enough. I had to go and search myself and I’m going to continue to keep going down there,” she said.
With five senior dogs of her own, she says this hits too close to home. She’s now started the “Searching for Spot” Facebook page where more than 100 people from around New Mexico are still looking for Spot. “If I seen him, I would grab him up and just hold and snuggle him and call Paul in tears,” Gates said.
Rush says no matter what the search turns up, words cant describe how thankful he is to everyone who’s been a part of it. “I still have hope that I’ll see him, and I want to have that, you know, but I also need closure.”
Rush says while some sightings of Spot have not been truthful, one he believes is, a Spot sighting on the Mesa a few weeks back. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help pay for search efforts. Anyone with information is encouraged to call the Rio Rancho Police Department or the Sandoval County Sheriff’s Office.
