4 Kids Saved from Amazon After Plane Crash Pay Tribute to Missing Dog Who Helped Rescue Them

Wilson the Belgian shepherd.Photo:HANDOUT/Colombian Army/AFP via Getty Images

HANDOUT/Colombian Army/AFP via Getty Images

The children rescued last week from the Amazon jungle aftersurviving 40 days in the wild following a plane crashare paying tribute to a missing search and rescue dog.

According toThe Guardian, the Belgian shepherd — named Wilson — helped in the search efforts for the four siblings and is now lost in the Colombian jungle.

In Lesly’s drawing,posted on Twitter, a dog is depicted playing near a tree and a stream as the sun shines. In Soleiny’s, a dog sits beside a large flower under the sun.

Lesly, 13, made a colorful drawing for Wilson the rescue dog.Colombian ministry of defence

Colombian ministry of defence

Per CNN, military officials and the children’s family believe Wilson encountered the children independently during the search efforts. The children’s grandfather said the Special Forces search dog became the “faithful friend” of the children and “accompanied them on several occasions.”

Colombian military spokesperson Pedro Arnulfo Sánchez Suárez said the children “spent three or four days with Wilson and said that they (found) him quite skinny.”

Search efforts for Wilson are still ongoing.

“We have a saying, ‘We never leave an element behind,’ even less the four children, we would not leave Wilson. But we are also conscious of how difficult it is to find him in the depths of a hostile but blessed jungle,” continued Suárez.

On Tuesday, General Helder Giraldo said the search for Wilson would continue until the dog is found. “We have about 70 commandos looking for him right now,” he said, per CNN.

The four children, who also include Tien Ranoque Mucutuy, 4, and Cristin Ranoque Mucutuy, 1, were discovered alive on June 9 —  40 days after their plane crash took place on May 1 —CNN previously reported.

The siblings were traveling withtheir motherand two other adults, who all died, from the Amazonian village of Araracuara to San Jose del Guaviare at the time of the plane crash, according toCBS. The outlet reported that the pilot declared an emergency after the aircraft’s engine failed but before falling off the radar.

That animal is believed to have been Wilson, one of 10 military sniffer dogs used in the search operation for the children.

Wilson was last seen on June 8, the day before the children’s rescue. “We saw him about 40 meters away, and we tried to call him,” dog handler Carlos Villegas told local outletEl Tiempo, perThe Guardian.“My companion drew close to him, he tried to play with him in order to grab him, but [Wilson] ran off.”

Wilson was one of 10 sniffer dogs used to help find the children.HANDOUT/Colombian army/AFP via Getty Images

HANDOUT/Colombian army/AFP via Getty Images

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He also said their time in the jungle was an example of “total survival that will be remembered in history.”

source: people.com