Dog back home 3 days after owner’s fatal fall

The (Scranton) Times-Tribune

A 9-year-old beagle is back home, three days after his owner died in a fall while walking the dog in Ricketts Glen State Park in eastern Pennsylvania.

The beagle, named Morty, belonged to Yuri Sannikov, 74, of Scranton, who went for a walk with his son and the dog Monday. After they became separated, his son reported Mr. Sannikov missing.

Authorities searched overnight for the man and found him at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the bottom of a waterfall, state police said in a news release earlier this week. The Luzerne County coroner’s office pronounced him dead two hours later. He suffered multiple traumatic injuries.

Morty could not be found, so Mr. Sannikov’s family contacted Bonnie Snyder, the operator of the Bellabon’s Pet Recovery Services, based in Muncy, for help.

Short of a few sightings, the search remained fruitless until about 8:15 p.m. Thursday, when Mr. Sannikov’s family headed to a maintenance building in the park to help Ms. Snyder set traps. They were running a little late, but it turned out they were in the right place at the right time. As they drove to meet Ms. Snyder, they spotted Morty on the road.

Michael Sannikov, Mr. Sannikov’s son, got out of the vehicle and called for the dog. Then his mother, Dina Sannikov, exited the vehicle. When she called, Morty came.

Michael Sannikov was relieved to have Morty back Thursday night.

“He was best friends with my dad. It’s nice to have a little vestige of my father. We can actually start having a cathartic grieving process.”