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WESLEY CHAPEL - In an instant, Kim Warner's life changed. Her car spun out of control on a darkened interstate. Another car hit her.
She barely escaped serious injury. Her car was totaled.
And she doesn't care.
Warner, 22, cares about just one thing: finding her dog, Bear.
Bear, a black and white, 70-pound boxer/Dalmatian mix, was sitting alongside Warner about 11:30 p.m. May 28 as they rode together south on Interstate 75, headed for a long weekend in Clearwater.
When her 1983 Mercedes struck a shredded truck tire about 3 miles north of State Road 54, the car started spinning. She was hit by another car, and the impact sent Bear flying out the window. Her dog raced alongside the interstate and vanished.
"I remember looking over, when the car stopped in the woods, and I was like, "Oh, my God. Where's my dog?"' Warner said Friday. "He was probably so scared. I spent 31/2 hours looking for him, walking up and down the interstate in the dark, calling his name as loud as I could."
Warner's friend, Charlotte Loomis of Gainesville, said Warner has done everything she could think of to find her lost dog.
"That dog was her life, her best friend, everything," Loomis said. "She hasn't been the same since."
Warner said she has spent hours hunting for Bear. She has called Animal Control daily. She called veterinarian offices. She posted signs. She said she delivered fliers to homes along both sides of the interstate for miles.
Warner is a massage therapist living in Gainesville while taking further instruction in sports massage. She is far from her family in Pensacola, and Bear has been her faithful companion, she said.
Bear is 3 years old and has a white belly with spots, white tips on his feet and tail, and a distinctive white "T" on the back of his neck.
"I just fell in love with him," Warner said. "I can't give up."
Warner said anyone with information on Bear's whereabouts can call her any time at (352) 336-4025 or (850) 291-7085.