Woman with Down syndrome, cancer searching for lost dog

Published 11:00 am Friday, August 17, 2012

By CHRISTINE BOATWRIGHT / Staff Writer

FOURMILE – Fourmile resident Wendi Ray is looking for her lost dog.

Boomer, Ray’s Yorkie, was last seen at Ray’s residence July 24.

Ray, who was born with Down syndrome, was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. While Ray, 40, was in the hospital for treatments July 24, her father, Larry Ray, traveled to the family’s home for supplies.

Wendi Ray.

Larry Ray said he let the dog out, as he’d been inside all day, and Boomer never came back to the door as he usually did.

“If someone did pick him up, I don’t care. I’m not going to try to press any kind of charges. I’m interested in getting her dog back,” Larry Ray said. “She’s going through chemo treatment, and she’s just devastated that her little buddy is gone.”

Sallie Ray, Wendi Ray’s mother, said the family has received calls from Wilsonville residents about possible sightings, but the leads have been for naught.

Boomer.

“We went yesterday afternoon and drove and was searching for him in our community, and she was just sobbing, begging for him to please come home,” said Sallie Ray Aug. 17. “It’s her pet. It’s just like when we found out she has breast cancer, he became protective over her. We’re just needing her doggie to come home.”

The Rays called the Shelby County Humane Society in case Boomer was turned in, but he still hasn’t been located.

“She’s got Down syndrome and now going through this cancer and having to take the chemo treatments. She’s just horrified of losing her hair,” Larry Ray said. “That plus her dog being gone is about more than mommy and daddy can take right now. We’d just like to get her little pet back.”

If you have any information on Boomer’s whereabouts, please call Larry Ray at 281-9338. To support the Ray family, visit the Wendi Ray Care Page on Facebook.