After nearly a year of searching and almost $38,000 in donations to a GoFundMe page, a dog, Ullr, has been located on a trail camera in the Colorado backcountry. As seen by Digital Camera World, Jacob Dalbey’s lost dog, Ullr, was seen in two trail camera photos captured on February 17 and 18. “After 341 days, 11 months to the day of setting up trail cameras/food and moving them around in hopes of luring Ullr into one to finally get confirmation of what I have known all along, it has happened…” writes Dalbey on an updated published yesterday, February 22, on the GoFundMe page. “And here are pictures of Ullr from 02/17/24 and 2/18/24 from a game camera I have had set in this exact spot since August — Please, everyone take a moment to tell him what a good job he is doing out there, and that, whenever he chooses, we’re all ready to help him come to safety,” Dalbey continues. Ullr was initially lost in the wilderness near Marble, Colorado, on March 17, 2023, when Dalbey, Ullr, and Dalbey’s friends traveled over an unstable snowpack. The snow cracked, and the group was caught in an avalanche near Chair Mountain. Ullr escaped the avalanche, although he got separated and has been lost since.
Deborah Wieker initially organized the GoFundMe on behalf of Dalbey to help cover the costs of a professional tracker, which Dalbey couldn’t afford, partly due to medical expenses associated with the accident. “Ullr escaped the avalanche and has been on his own since. Jake needed to hire a professional tracker to come in and help find Ullr. This is very expensive and he needs help to pay for it! Jake was badly injured in the avalanche and has underwent surgeries as well as is healing from severe frostbite himself. Due to Jake’s injuries he can not be out in the weather very much, so his searching capabilities are very limited. The terrain is also very rugged,” Wieker wrote last year. “Please help Jake find Ullr and get him home! All donations will go directly to Jacob to help him pay for all the miscellaneous expense related to searching for Ullr, including Ullr’s probable vet expenses,” she added. In the subsequent months since Wieker established the GoFundMe, numerous updates have shown a bit of conflict and tension between Wieker and Dalbey, particularly concerning how the funds were being used to search for Ullr. “After receiving many emails from people (and when the funds had reached over $20,000.00) I asked Jacob for accountability as to where he has spent the money. I personally gave the GFM $1500.00,” Wieker wrote on July 13, 2023. “Jacob got angry and told me it was none of my concern. Well actually, it is my concern. It is my GFM that asked all of you to help Jacob pay for a tracker!” She then disabled donations and referred people to a different GoFundMe for Dalbey organized by Kerry Brown.
Presumably, Wieker and Dalbey reached some resolution in private, as the GoFundMe is active, and Wieker has made additional updates since last July. However, she remarked earlier this week that she “no longer communicates with Jacob.” Dalbey and Ullr have not yet been reunited, but the new photos show that Ullr is alive and appears to be in good health. Those who want to continue to contribute to the efforts to bring Ullr home can do so through GoFundMe. The most important thing is Ullr’s safety and well-being, so hopefully, the courageous dog will continue to stay safe. “To all of you, friends and supporters of Ullr (and me), I want to thank you so much. Knowing you believe in us really means a lot, even when I don’t say it. It has been extremely difficult to say the least. Your support has made it possible to keep searching for Ullr over the last 11+ months,” Dalbey wrote this week on GoFundMe. Image credits: Jacob Dalbey on GoFundMe
