Drucie Turner’s “lost dog” flier.
Martins Creek – Sometimes a drone is there to help.
Drucie Turner of Martins Creek lost her dog, Rumor, late Christmas Day and has been frantically searching ever since. Her 30-pound whippet short-hair doesn’t have an ounce of fat and isn’t equipped for the frigid temperatures in the area since then.
Turner searched high and low. She hired tracking dogs out of Asheville that narrowed the search area before losing Rumor’s scent. So she hired a professional drone operator from Georgia to pick up the trail.
The drone operator, using an infrared camera, identified what could have been Rumor curled up in the woods off Caney Creek Road. The animal was bigger than a possum, smaller than a deer – but the drone’s battery was low, and there wasn’t time for a positive ID.
On the drone’s way back to have a fresh battery installed, someone shot at it. Pellets rained down on the operator and his vehicle.
That was enough for him; his drone was an $18,000 piece of equipment, and he wasn’t willing to risk it getting shot at again, so the drone operator left.
Turner has reached out through social media and the Cherokee Scout to help her find Rumor, but the clock is ticking.
13-year-old whippet lost
Rumor left the house late Christmas Day. Turner believes the dog could be somewhere along Caney Creek Road area north of Rockridge Road.
“A drone operator from Canton, Ga., searched with infrared in the area where the tracking dogs lost scent,” she posted on social media. “He spotted an object in the woods that wasn’t a positive ID but was very encouraging.
“The next step was to launch the drone close to the object where he would guide me on foot via radio to the precise location. Unfortunately someone fired two shots at the drone as it was returning for fresh batteries for that launch. The pellets fell on the drone operator’s head and car roof. Understandably he did not launch his 18K drone again.”
Turner has continued the search on her own, even tying pieces of cloth with her scent to shrubs and trees to create a path leading back home on Settlers Crossing Way.
Rumor and the drone
Rumor is a 30-pound whippet – a lean, short-haired dog that looks like a small greyhound. She is white with large spots.
Turner is advising anyone who sees the dog to not approach her – she’s sweet and not dangerous, but she’s also timid and shy. Turner asks anyone who sees the dog to take a photo and call her at 505-550-7615.
Turner adopted Rumor when she was 6 years old after the original owners returned her to the breeder in Raleigh. Whippets feel most comfortable in packs, and Turner is Rumor’s alpha, she said.
The drone operator, Mike Snyder, owner of Top Gun Drone Services LLC, uses a thermal imaging search-and-rescue drone to locate lost pets/livestock and downed deer.
“Tonight was by far the scariest experience I’ve ever had in my life and am still shaken up by it,” he posted on social media immediately following the shooting.
“I am pretty shook but not down and out, yet,” he said.
Snyder filed a report with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office and continues to help find Rumor in other ways, just not with his drone.
“She is still out there and absolutely is scared of gunshots,” Snyder said.
“The interesting and scary part was as I was landing I heard two gunshots that sounded like shotgun blasts from an elevated position from us. When my drone was 20 or so feet from the ground, guiding in between trees and a low laying power line. Not soon after the blasts, I got hit in the back of my head from the pellets raining down on our position,” he recalled.
“Thank God my head was turned the other direction or a good chance those hot pellets would’ve struck my eyes. And also thank God my client was already in her car preparing to drive to the pinned location.
“I cautiously agreed to go with her on foot into those woods to maybe search for her dog. But without my thermal overwatch position to guide her our foot search would be nearly hopeless. Plus, we were literally shot at.”
‘I am a bit afraid’
The incident has left him with doubts, Snyder said.
“I don’t know, y’all! With all this junk about drones in New Jersey I am not gonna lie I am a bit afraid to continue this. I’m sure I am just probably tired from the night and shaken by the events that transpired. I just hope I can keep this up and continue helping folks with missing pets,” he said.
“I truly do love what I do and the feeling I get when it all goes off like clockwork where I capture the search and ultimately rescue on video is so beautiful. And I know y’all appreciate what I’m doing with all of the tags and kind words written about me. It’s just tonight was my first real low point that shook me up. No one should be fearful of their safety and ultimately their life,” he added.
“Perhaps with all that happened in North Carolina with the hurricane, people are on edge with potential looters scoping out areas to rob. I don’t know.”