Diane Jefferis spent the better part of Sunday driving back and forth between the area surrounding Whiskey Run Golf Course in Quaker City, and Batesville.
She returned earlier today to resume the search, one that’s continued unabated since her little boy first went missing from the family property back on November 5. That little boy is Rufus, a beloved basset hound who turned one year old a few weeks after first disappearing from the Jefferis’ home on Ohio 800 south out of Barnesville.
Sunday, Jefferis was acting on a tip she received from an oil and gas truck driver who nearly hit what he believed to be a basset hound near a barn in the area described above.
She found the barn, but alas, no Rufus.
“I found the location and the barn he referred to, and I found the owner of the barn, a nice lady, and I left a flier with her,” Jefferis said. “She hadn’t seen Rufus.
“I’m hoping it’s him, but even if it’s not him, there’s a basset hound that needs to be rescued out there,” she insisted. “Oil and gas trucks go back and forth out there, other cars too, and it’s very dangerous. That could be somebody’s pet running loose.”
Or it could have been Rufus. Sadly, it wasn’t.
Jefferis found the owner, it was actually a pair of basset hounds that belonged to an Amish family in the area.
But that call and subsequent search rejuvenated Jefferis’ hope that she and her “RuRu” will soon be reunited. It’s been a roller coaster ride of emotion, from helpful leads that turn out to be another basset hound to scammers trying to take advantage of a woman searching for her beloved pet.
It received a further shot in the arm Monday morning when a Facebook post in the St. Clairsville group spoke of a basset hound spotted near Warnick. The post, as of 2:50 p.m. Eastern, contained nearly 400 comments, even inspiring others wanting to help to hit the pavement in search of Rufus.
To say it’s been a rough few weeks would be an understatement.
Still, Jefferis continues undeterred. It helps that the majority of people who’ve reached out or attempted to help via social media and other avenues have been, at least, positive.
“I’ve had way more positive and kind helpful remarks from people than I’ve had scammers,” Jefferis said. “I’ve even had some people come out and walk through my woods here—some that I knew, some that I didn’t. I’ve made some new friends.”
Rufus Spies a Deer
Jefferis and her pack were outside playing in the waning hours of November 5.
It was getting dark so Jefferis signaled it was time to go back inside. Right as she touched the door to enter her house, her King Charles Cavalier Spaniel caught wind of a deer and began to chase. Her Basset Hounds, including Rufus, followed suit and the group bounded through the brush after the deer.
Within five minutes, they all came back and entered the whole—all but one.
“Rufus never runs off on his own, so I thought he’d be right back too,” Jefferis recalled. “Then 20 minutes went by and started to get really worried and frantic, calling his name and looking for him.”
Jefferis said that none of her current dogs typically will scent chase out of the yard, and she’d never seen Rufus previously do it. They were more so chasing the Cavalier she believes, but she doesn’t believe that Rufus would continue the chase by himself. More than likely, Rufus believed he was following his family members on the chase, then realized that he was alone and become disoriented.
Exhausting All Efforts
Ever since the search has been on, Jefferis made up both fliers and postcards to be distributed.
She’s blanketed social media with pictures and information, and she’s placed calls to help to assist her in bringing her baby home.
Jefferis doesn’t have any children or grandchildren—at least none with two legs. Rufus, and her other dogs, are her family, and he is collared and tagged with Jefferis’ contact information. He’s also microchipped.
Despite these precautions, neither has led to Rufus being found yet, neither by someone finding and calling or turning him in, or, in an unthinkable scenario, finding the poor pup on the side of the road and, seeing his tags, calling the owner to at least give her the peace of mind.
Sadly, lost pets happen. Some are found, some aren’t, but Jefferis is doing everything within her power to ensure Rufus is one of the found. She’s offering a reward—not unheard of in lost pet cases—but she’s offering $2,000, by no means a small amount.
She’s even enlisted the help of professional trackers to help find Rufus.
“I tried to get a company closer, but no one from Columbus or Pittsburgh would come, so I hired a professional tracking company from Virginia,” Jefferis said. “They brought three dogs, started out our property, picked up the scent from there, and set out.”
The company found and lost the scent and it took them all over the area that day. No luck, Rufus was still missing. But the woman with the company offered to assist Jefferis with advice and ideas, even after she returned back home.
Possibilities
If today’s search doesn’t result in Rufus being found, Jefferis will continue her search, not stopping until she finds Rufus and is reunited, and, if not, at least until she receives some closure.
But she remains positive, as there are still some possibilities. Perhaps someone found Rufus, picked him up, and brought him home. Maybe they found him, and took him home with the intention of contacting his owner, only for the little guy to get out once again.
That could explain why he’s west of Barnesville near Batesville on Ohio 147 if that turns out to be Rufus.
If he did venture that direction, there are a number of Amish families living in the area that could have found or seen him, ones that don’t have access to social media and are aware of the hunt for Rufus. It’s also been more than a month, which is plenty of time for Rufus to have gotten a decent ways away from his home base on 800 South near Somerton.
“I have a really strong suspicion, mostly intuition, that someone has picked him up and has him,” Jefferis said. “I’m not sure if they are nearby or farther away. You’d hope people would do the right thing, but if it takes a reward to get him back, then that’s okay too. There’s no questions asked and no one is getting in trouble. I just want my Rufus to come home.”
You can visit Jefferis’ Facebook page to see plenty of pictures of Rufus, as well as find Jefferis’ contact information should you find anything.
He’s a 1-year-old male basset hound that’s roughly 50 pounds and has a spotted nose. He’s a tri-color, with brown and white on his face and underbody with a largely black coat on the backside.
He was last seen near Fairyland Ice Cream and Burkhart’s Nursery near Barnesville, Ohio.
Jefferis can be reached via Facebook, by email at dianejefferis@hotmail.com or by calling or texting 740-391-2934.
