Finding Runa

Louise Smith and her best pal Runa

By Tom Peterson with assistance from Kory Hendrickson

The tragic loss of a 24-year-old daughter in a highway crash in northern Idaho left little hope, said her mother Della Smith today, May 26.

“I miss my daughter a lot,” she said. “I keep waiting for her smiling face to come through the door and say it was all a joke. She had a spirit about her,  anybody that came across her, she touched their lives somehow.”

Louise Smith, 24, of Lyle was on a cross-country trip in her grey Chevrolet Cruz on a way to a job and to help a friend out in Georgia, her mother said. 

Smith had attended schools in Lyle, The Dalles and Dufur. She had worked at Home Depot, Celilo Inn, K-Mart. 

She was a Hostess at Cousin’s Restaurant and worked at Discounts Plus.

Carla Culver

People really liked her. 

“I trained her,” said Carla Culver at Discounts Plus. “She was a very very sweet gal. She had a good sense of humor. And if someone was down, she would try to cheer them up. She had that wit about her.”

A friend memorial was held for Louise at Sorosis Park in The Dalles on Saturday, Culver said. 

The Beginning of an Adventure

In early May, Louise packed up her belongings and loaded her car with her buddy, Runa, a 3-year-old red heeler and a new kitten. 

Smith enjoyed adventures and the outdoors and had compiled a list of things she wanted to see along the way - one of those was the Warm Springs along the Clearwater River between Missoula, Montana and Lewiston, Idaho. The spring, formerly called Jerry Johnson’s Hot Spring is up a one-mile trail and offers hikers a beautiful respite amongst the granite rock and fir trees in the Idaho outback. It’s near the Lochsa River.

But the highway to it - Highway 12 - can be treacherous tucked into the steep forested river canyon with many blind spots and endless corners. It leads to the famed Lolo Pass and tracks the footsteps of Lewis & Clark. Signs are posted stating, “Curves next 99 miles”.

On May 4th, Louise Smith was driving eastbound near the spring on Idaho Hwy. 12 in the Clearwater National Forest when she went head-on with a westbound Peterbilt semi-truck that was hauling a piece of farm machinery, according to the Idaho State Police. 

The Peterbilt rolled up on top of Smith’s vehicle and trapped her for several hours while rescuers attempted to extricate her from the vehicle. Smith was transported to a hospital in Missoula and received care for several days before she succumbed to her injuries.

The kitten perished in the crash.

It was a heartbreaking loss, said her mother Della, 49.

“She was very outgoing and adventurous, and that dog would go with her everywhere. They were pals in that. That was her baby and that was her child.”

Louise Smith’s vehicle and belongings were towed.

But there was no indication of Runa or what happened to the tender red heeler.

The missing dog compounded the grief for Della, who had remained in Lyle as she has issues with mobility.

“I worried about that dog, I could not sleep at night,” she said.

A little Hope

Runa at left.

On May 12th, Marty Lytle was at her home in Stites, Idaho, about 82 miles from where the crash occurred. Marty, 62, is the director of the IdaHope for Animals rescue service. A nonprofit in its fifth month of existence. 

A friend of hers, a truck driver named Luca Maze, pulled up to Marty’s house. Maze who hauls grain and wood chips lives in Montana and drives Hwy. 12 constantly.

“He’s an animal lover,” Marty said. “He let me know that there was a dog out there (on Hwy. 12. We found out that dog came out of that accident.” 

Liz Aragon, who also volunteers with Marty, said she did some checking on Facebook and found Louise Smith and photos of Runa. Aragon said she checked with family and was able to verify the dog’s photo.

Posters like this were posted along Hwy 12 for weeks in attempts to locate Runa. Photo courtesy Kory Hendrickson

The animal rescue then began posting pictures of the dog everywhere, on posters, on Facebook. 

“People came forward and said they had seen the dog,” Marty said. 

And then, nothing.

“A solid week went by and no one had seen the dog,” Marty said. 

Meanwhile, volunteer Terasa Patten and her homeschooled kids had spent days attempting to locate and trap Runa while camping in the area of the crash.

She hoped the dog would return; sometimes they do.

No dice.

“It was one of the most difficult rescues we have done because of the terrain,” Marty said. “There are cougars, traffic, and bear season is open, so there is bear bate. And there is a ton of rafters and kayakers and the traffic is horrible.”

On top of it, there is no communication in the highway corridor, making it difficult to give Patten leads that were phoned in to the rescue. 

Marty said they would have to drive to Terasa to relay information - sometimes 80 miles at a time. 

But on Saturday, May 21, they got a break. 

“We started to get some true sightings,” Marty said. “She (Runa) was actually 15 miles below the wreck site at milepost 136.5.”

It was now or never for rescuing the dog. 

“It was a really bad spot,” Marty said, noting the highway corridor had sheer bluffs just a few more miles down the road from where Runa was spotted. There would be nowhere for the dog to go. And if Runa did get around the bottleneck with traffic, it led into a draw that was “horrendous wolf country,” Marty said. 

Volunteers had retrieved a blanket and Runa’s dog food from Louise’s vehicle to help coax the dog into the trap. 

Terasa moved down to the site of the last sighting and spotted the dog. But it ran off.

Then on Monday, May 23, Terasa worked some magic. She used Louise’s blanket and a combination of sausage mixed with Runa’s dog food and beef jerky - all Runa’s favorites -  to get the red heeler to walk into the trap.

It worked.

“We had a lot of tears when they called and said they had Runa in the vehicle,” Marty said. “The tears ran.”

Liz said she was shopping when her cell phone rang. She nearly kicked her cart over. “That’s like finding a needle in a haystack.”

Runa after being rescued with sausage on Monday, May 23.

Back in Lyle, Della said Marty called on Monday night and told her about Runa’s rescue.

“Those people there are so awesome,” Della said of IdaHope for Animals. “They did an incredible job to finally catch her. You have no idea how happy I am. It takes so much stress off me not to have to worry about the dog. That’s the first night I got a good night’s sleep knowing the dog was safe.”

On Wednesday, Marty said the dog was staying at her home in Stite. 

“I sat down with her last night and she crawled up onto my lap and snuggled,” she said. “She does not bark or any of those things. She’s just kind of a little sweety; she gets along with my other dogs and cats.”

Della said they are working out a plan to meet Marty to retrieve the dog, but they are trying to get the funds to get the dog. Donation jars are at the Lyle Market and Gas Station for those wanting to contribute.

“I am taking it one day at a time, yeah,” Della said. “It is real hard. She was my youngest daughter. It will help to have the dog back. They were inseparable. It gives me a little bit of my daughter back.”

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If you would like to help IdaHope for Animals by deferring the costs of Runa's rescue and help us to continue our efforts, you may do so in the following ways:

Venmo: @IdaHopeForAnimals-Inc

Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/...

Or send a Check to: IdaHope for Animals, Box 633, Grangeville, ID 83530