posted November 14, 2012 09:21 PM            

Molly is a friendly black Labrador who likes to chase tennis balls, isn’t scared of school buses, gunshots or all terrain vehicles — and is an important part of Susan and Powell Johnson’s family.

The Frankfort couple was injured in an accident Thursday, Nov. 8, that happened when William Dunham, 79, also of Frankfort collided head-on with their vehicle on Route 1A. Dunham was killed in the crash that may have been caused by wet roads, according to police.

“She’s a good dog. I really miss her,” Susan Johnson said Tuesday afternoon. “We’re empty nesters. Our daughter’s down in college in southern Maine, and Molly’s like our kid. We have two cats, and they’re wandering around looking for her, wondering ‘Hey, who are we going to harass now?’”

She said that after the accident, she reached her hand back and Molly licked it.

“She didn’t feel like she was hurt,” Johnson said.

But in the commotion of the crash, Molly got startled when emergency responders pried the door off the vehicle to get her husband out, and Molly ran off into the woods.

Powell Johnson, 64, suffered six broken ribs, a broken leg and hip, and a shattered foot in the accident. He is at a rehabilitation facility now. Susan Johnson suffered a concussion and bruised hip and ribs.

Susan Johnson, 49, said Tuesday that she has returned to the accident scene to look for the dog and also knows that people who live in the area also have been keeping an eye out for her.

“We just don’t know if she was maybe hurt and went off somewhere and died,” Johnson said.

So far, she’s heard one report of a black Lab that was running around by the Blue Hill Hannaford.

“I don’t think she would have gotten all the way out there unless somebody picked her up in a car and let her out,” she said.

Molly, who is about 4 years old, weighs about 40 pounds, has a block head and a “good barrel chest.” She was wearing a light pink fabric collar and her rabies tag from the Searsport veterinarian. Her other registration tag was twisted off.

She’s a bird dog and is familiar with shotguns and rifles. She is also used to running alongside ATVs, according to her owner.

Johnson said that when her daughter was still in high school, a couple of times Molly followed her onto the school bus. Even two years after the daughter’s graduation, Molly still waits for her to get off the bus.

“She still thinks her girl is on that big yellow bus,” she said.

If anyone has information about Molly, please call Susan Johnson at 356-2000.

posted December 17, 2012 01:09 PM            

FRANKFORT, Maine — When Elizabeth Johnson pulled over Friday afternoon near the scene of last week’s fatal car crash and called for her missing black labrador, Molly, something wonderful happened.

Molly — painfully thin and suffering from a broken leg — came out of the woods to jump in the arms of her owner.

“With her three good legs, she limped up the hill,” Johnson, 20, of Waldoboro said. “It was like that scene in [the Disney movie] “Homeward Bound” … Her tail, it must have been wagging 100 miles a second. She was full of wags and kisses for me.”

The 40-pound lab with a sweet disposition had gone missing after the Nov. 8 accident which claimed the life of William Dunham, 79, of Frankfort.

Susan and Powell Johnson, Elizabeth Johnson’s parents, had been driving on Route 1A with Molly in the backseat when Dunham’s vehicle collided head-on with theirs. Police said that wet roads may have caused the crash.

When emergency responders pried the door off to help Powell Johnson, who was badly injured, Molly got startled and ran off into the woods.

Despite the efforts of many people in the area who have called or kept an eye out for the family pet, Molly stayed lost until Elizabeth and her boyfriend decided to try looking for her near the accident scene. They had heard from employees at the Family Country Market in Frankfort that customers had seen a black lab around the accident site, Elizabeth Johnson said.

Susan Johnson also had returned to the accident scene earlier this week to look for Molly, but to no avail.

“I called my mom and gave her the news. She started bawling, she’s so happy,” she said.

Johnson then took Molly to Ridge Runner Veterinary Services in Winterport, where they washed her down and put a cast on her broken leg. The cast has a heart on it that says “Welcome Home,” Johnson said.

“I’m just so happy that she’s home. I missed her so much,” she said.

Molly, who needs to get food, water and rest, will be recuperating along with Johnson’s parents. Powell Johnson, 64, suffered six broken ribs, a broken leg and hip, and a shattered foot in the accident. He is at a rehabilitation facility now. Susan Johnson, 49, suffered a concussion and bruised hip and ribs.

For a few days, Molly was “famous on Facebook,” Elizabeth Johnson said, as Mainers living near and far spread the word that a scared, loved family pet was missing.

“It’s amazing how much support I have seen from the community,” she said. “There were people messaging me from Facebook that I had never met before.”

In addition to offering prayers and good wishes, some of those people shared helpful ideas of how to track Molly down. And after Johnson found Molly Friday afternoon, some people immediately began to reach out, offering to set up an account to pay her veterinary bills, she said.

“You feel not only less alone about it, but people said that they had gone through similar things and gotten their animals back,” Johnson said. “It was great to receive that much support.”