Summit Lost Pet Rescue located 10-year-old Rocky weeks after he vanished during a cross-country move

A New Jersey man has been reunited with his beloved dog after a 43-day ordeal in the Colorado wilderness.

According to NJ.com, Steven Maa’s 10-year-old dog, Rocky, vanished on Dec. 28, 2025, during a stop in Montezuma, Colo. Maa and Rocky were in the middle of a cross-country move from New Jersey to California when the canine disappeared. On Friday, Feb. 13, after weeks of searching through snowstorms and subzero temperatures, Rocky returned to his worried owner’s arms.

“Getting to see Rocky and seeing how happy he was to see me was definitely very emotional,” Maa told the outlet. “It was amazing.”

Maa stopped in Colorado to ski and set up Rocky with a pet sitter while he was out on the slopes. Unfortunately, Rocky slipped out of his harness minutes after being set up with the pet sitter and sprinted into rugged terrain at roughly 10,000 feet above sea level. Maa and his partner searched the wilderness until 3 a.m. local time in a snowstorm before contacting Summit Lost Pet Rescue. This Colorado nonprofit quickly organized trail cameras, scent stations, and community alerts.

After three days, a resident’s front-door security camera confirmed Rocky was alive. But the dog soon disappeared again — and wouldn’t be seen for another 40 days.

Brandon Ciullo, founder of Summit Lost Pet Rescue, told NJ.com that vehicles, wildlife, and exposure are typically the biggest threats in cases like this.

As the weeks passed without sightings, the team prepared to scale back efforts. Then, on Feb. 9, a resident’s Ring camera captured a small black dog matching Rocky’s description.

“I need to respond to Montezuma,” Ciullo recalled telling another pet owner before rushing to the scene. “This dog has been missing for 43 days, and I’m sure it is extremely starving and very, very close to dying.”

Using Maa’s clothing to create a scent trail, rescuers set a humane trap. Rocky initially entered, but didn’t trigger the trap. Ciullo reset the trap, adding peanut butter, and vowed, “I’m not leaving this godd— mountain until this dog is in the back of my truck.”

Hours later, Rocky was secured.

Though emaciated (dropping from about 50 pounds to 26), Rocky still had energy. “We couldn’t believe that this dog, that hasn’t probably eaten in 43 days, had this much energy and this much life [in] him,” Ciullo recalled.

For Maa, the rescue was almost unimaginable. “We were just so overjoyed…and just disbelief that he could survive for that long,” he said.

 

Now in California, Rocky is settling into his new home — and, Maa shared, acting like his old self again.