Leo lost after fatal crash

Rutland Herald

By Kathleen Phalen Tomaselli
Staff Writer | August 04,2015

 

Provided photo

KILLINGTON — Several people are searching for Leo, a 4-year-old golden retriever, after he ran from the scene of a car crash that killed his owner in Killington late Friday night.

The dog was riding with his family as they traveled west on Route 4. At about 10:22 p.m., Jon M. Bellis, 64, the driver of the vehicle, struck a large Scottish Highlander bull that had escaped from its pasture at Mosher’s Excavation, according to Vermont State Police.

Police said after striking the bull, the vehicle went down a small grassy hill where it crashed into a tree.

According to police, Bellis died at the scene as a result of the crash.

The passenger, Kathryn Barry, 60, also of Woodbridge, Conn., was transported to Rutland Regional Medical Center with an injury to her right wrist. She was treated and released.

The bull was killed in the inital crash as well.

It is not known if the dog was injured.

The search for the missing dog began Monday morning when Debby DuBay of Rutland Town got an email from her friend Jill Simmons, who lives in Maine, that Leo ran off from the crash. Simmons is a friend of Leo’s family in Woodbridge, Conn.

“I am coordinating the search for the family because I live in the area,” DuBay said. “Six of us met at Mosher’s this morning. We’ve been putting up posters and talking to everybody — hikers, businesses. Everybody knows about Leo.”

At about 5 p.m. Monday, DuBay was rushing back to routes 4 and 100 where they got word of a dog sighting.

“The man who called saw him at 3 p.m. Sunday and again on Monday. He was sighted on Route 4 east and Route 100 south, near the snowmobile tours sign, about two blocks from the Citgo and behind the Back Behind Restaurant,” she said. “We are back searching now and the family is coming back from Connecticut to search.”

Although Leo’s family lives in Connecticut, they own a condo at Pinnacle Condominium Association in Killington.

The dog is not wearing a collar or tags, but he is microchipped, said Sue Skaskiw, executive director of Vermont Volunteer Services for Animals Humane Society. The microchip is an identification method for veterinarians. If the dog is found and brought to a vet, the dog’s chip could identify the dog’s owner.

Skaskiw made 25 posters for the search.

“The whole thing breaks my heart,” said Craig Mosher, president of Mosher’s Excavating, who owned the bull. And many area residents would often stop by to see the bulls that had been in the pasture for 11 years.

“It was so good for so many years,” Mosher said. “In the blink of an eye, it ends like this.”