September 27th, about noon, I received a call from Sam on my cell, while traveling in Missouri.  I say traveling but really I was stuck in traffic due to a car fire on highway 65 south of Springfield.  He asked if I raised Jack Russell’s and if I ever hunted.  I told him I did, he continued, “Do they come out of the ground by themselves”?  At that point I was glad I was sitting, the next thing he said was “my dog went down a rabbit hole and hasn’t come out, she has done that before but not for this long”.  I asked how long,  could he hear her.  Sam said he didn’t hear her barking and it was about twenty-four hours since she entered the hole.  He had to leave but his dad was still there digging.  I asked if he could smell skunk around the hole, which he stated he didn’t. 

After getting his location (New York) and determining he or his father could get to the computer and pull up the TRAPPED website for volunteers that lived near him, I took his number and told him to call me back if he wasn’t able to contact anyone.

The next day I had an email from Shawn Costello in New York it read:

"Just wanted you to know the system is working.  A gentleman called me tonight to help with a lost JRT that went to ground.  I think he went to the JRTCA site to TRAPPED to a contact or two and ended up with me.  The little bitch Maggie was in the ground 26-28 hour.  With a bit of digging and the use of one of my terriers, we were able to get a hold of the obstinate little bitch.  She was determined but not stuck.  I was worried because it was a bit sandy and loamy.  All ended well.  Thanks to TRAPPED."

 I haven’t heard from Sam but know he will have a story to tell his friends, thanks to Shawn Costello.