The mystery of Izzy
“Still Missing!” Colorful ribbons blow in the breeze from elaborate signs throughout Norman. The plea and the reward capture the attention of motorists waiting for red lights to turn green.
It seems half of Norman is aware of the long search for Izzy, a tiny female Yorkshire terrier, and the offer of a $2,000 reward.
Gloria Fairley, sat in her small duplex in east Norman, and said her house doesn’t feel like home anymore. At 70, she still works full time, and the job helps her from always thinking about Izzy.
She received the little dog in 2015 as a Christmas gift from her youngest daughter. She said Izzy, formally named Isabella, loves to play with balloons, and she races to the television set when a hearing aid commercial appears because it features a dog Izzy likes.
“It’s as if she fell off the face of the Earth,” Fairley said. “Everyone knows about Izzy now, but no one has seen her. We have done everything we know to find her, including hiring a pet detective from Nebraska.”
It was spring break, March 19, a windy, chilly day, when Gloria’s nephew brought groceries into the house. The door caught in the wind, and Izzy ran out and down the street.
He was barefoot, and had a young child with him, but he chased after the little dog for several blocks without success.
The family expected her to wander back home within a day of two. They knocked on doors, got on social media, distributed flyers and waited.
As summer winds down and autumn decorations line store shelves, people suggest the family should accept that Izzy won’t be coming back.
They think she could have been attacked by a predator, run over or picked up by a passer-by. Is Izzy now part of another family?
Hope Day, one of Gloria’s daughters, a pediatric nurse in Norman, began a mission to find her mother’s dog. She said she didn’t have any experience with a dedicated search for a missing animal.
During the months of searching, she has gained a wealth of knowledge ranging from sturdy, weatherproof sign-making techniques, to researching pet detectives and visiting every veterinarian in the area.
The women have communicated with hundreds of people, in person and through social media, and they are encouraged by their kindness.
“We haven’t had a single lead, but we won’t take the signs down,” Day said. “Who cannot use $2,000 to give this dog back?”
Izzy was last seen on Beaumont Street, during that first chase out the door.
The pet detective’s dogs chased her scent in that area three weeks after she was lost, but the trail didn’t produce any answers.
The mystery of Izzy continues. And the search has become a part of their daily life as they continue to hope for the day Izzy comes home.