For over three weeks, communities from all over the area including Mohegan Lake, Shrub Oak, Yorktown, Putnam Valley, Continental Village, Cortlandt, Peekskill and every nook and cranny in between, were completely invested in helping Rose Delagi’s quest to find Rambo the dog. The journey began just as 2024 ended and concluded two-and-a-half weeks into 2025. This is a story of how when times get tough, we come together not just as small towns and villages independent of each other, but as a larger regional community. This is the story of how this region of the Hudson Valley banded together to find Rambo the missing Hound Dog. 

The Escape Artist

For many years, Rose Delagi has taken in foster dogs and prepared them for adoption. Sunday, December 29, 2024, was no different. Earlier that day, as occasionally happens, a family had to give Rambo up for various reasons. Dealing with many foster dogs in the past, Rose took Rambo in. A few hours later, Rose took Rambo outside so he could relieve himself in the backyard. However, the day was upended when somehow, someway, Rambo was able to escape from his collar and ran into the large swath of woods adjacent to Rose’s backyard in Mohegan Lake near the Cortlandt Town Center. While Rose called out and tried to follow Rambo, she was not successful. In a quick act of desperation, she ran back inside, called the previous owners, and quickly explained what happened. She asked them to come over as soon as they could. They immediately joined the search. Just as they spotted him deep in the woods, Rambo saw a deer, chased after it, and was gone again.

That is when Rose decided it was time to call Michael Coyne, owner and operator of Heatseeker Drone Services to locate Rambo via a drone. (Peekskill Herald readers may remember Michael and Heatseeker Drone Services from the heartwarming story of Dudley the Dog, we featured last January). 

Towards dusk, Michael arrived with his DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise Series advanced thermal drone and sent the machine high in the sky. After searching a while, Michael spotted Rambo. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and became jubilant. Just as quickly as they took that sigh, Michael turned to them and said, the bad news though is that the battery on the drone was running super low. He said he would have to bring the drone down and change the battery. As quickly as he could, Micheal changed the drone’s battery. He then set the drone skyward again  to the last known location of Rambo. Unfortunately, Rambo was not there or anywhere for that matter that he looked. Rambo had fled. 

The next day, Michael and his Heatseeker Drone came back to look for Rambo, but Rambo was nowhere to be found. Heartbroken, Rose immediately created missing poster signs, posted them all over town and in all of the local Facebook groups she was part of.

The Search

Over the next few days, Rose, her daughter Hope and a few others, dubbed the Rambo rescue group, searched for Rambo in as many places as they could. Rose even reached out to Rocco Autero, a professional dog tracker.  As hard as they tried, they could not find Rambo anywhere. 

Occasionally, Rose would get a call, text, or private message saying they saw Rambo, but by the time anyone would arrive, Rambo was nowhere to be found. He never stayed still, kept trudging along, travelling at his own path, one step ahead of Rose and the Rambo rescue group.

Then, on Thursday, January 2, 2025, there waa a confirmed sighting of Rambo six-and-a-half miles north of Rose’s house up in Putnam Valley. Someone posted a photo of a loose dog on Tinker Hill Road in the Putnam Valley Moms Facebook Group. A group member recognized the dog and immediately shared it with Rose. Rose, Hope, and the Rambo rescue group, assembled together and quickly headed over to Tinker Hill Road hoping to capture the hound. However, dusk was on the horizon and the group was not able to search for long. 

The next day, Rose, Hope, Rocco – the dog tracker, Michael the Drone operator, and the Rambo rescue group, all assembled near Tinker Hill. The group searched all day, worn out and exhausted, later that evening, Rose put up a Facebook post saying, “Rambo got away from us again. He took off into the woods and we don’t know what direction he went in. Heatseeker Drones were out today looking and couldn’t find him either.” 

Then, a day or two later, a Tinker Hill Road resident contacted Rose with the news that their backyard camera spotted Rambo. Rose, Hope and Rocco, went to the person’s home and set up feeding stations in the hopes Rambo would be hungry enough to have a tasty snack. As they knew Rambo was a sneaky dog, keeping one step ahead of the rescue team, they decided to try and beat him at his own game by placing a second feeding station on the other side of Tinker Hill in case he decided to go in that direction. With feeding stations up, they said a few prayers, hoped and waited. But Rambo never appeared again. He vanished without a trace.

Though a touch discouraged, Rose never gave up. She was determined to find Rambo. Day in and day out, night after night, Rose tirelessly posted daily updates all over social media to keep Rambo in the public eye. As shares of her posts grew organically, so too did the public’s awareness of Rambo’s missing status. As the audience grew, the regional community started to become deeply invested in assuring Rambo’s safe return home. Over the next week-and-a-half there were Rambo sightings all over a 10-mile radius including Peekskill Hollow Road, Sprout Brook Road, Continental Village, and a few other places.

The Hound was Found

On Wednesday, January 15th, after working all day, I decided to take my dog Koda out for a hike in the woods in the Hudson Highlands Gateway Park along Sprout Brook Road. The park is relatively small for hiking with around 352 acres. After hiking up to the top of a mountain and back down the other side, my dog Koda noticed a dog just slightly off the trail. Being the friendly dog he is, he began wagging his tail in a happy manner. He trotted over to the other dog to say hi. That’s when I noticed the tan and black hound dog standing near a small tree with its tail tucked between its legs looking a bit disheveled, scared, lost and lonely. 

As I walked toward the dogs, I said in a warm friendly manner, “Hi puppy, how are you?” A few steps later, I said, “where’s your owner puppy?” That is when my instinct kicked in and I thought this dog may be lost or had gotten loose from one of the surrounding homes adjacent to the park or Route 9. As I approached and got about 50 feet away, the hound decided that was close enough for his comfort level and he walked away. My dog Koda followed him, until the dog began to trot into the woods and then run away from us. That is when I thought about the missing dog pictures I kept seeing all over Facebook.

Around 4 p.m. in the afternoon when I quickly searched around to find the missing dog posters of Rambo. I sent Rose Delagi a message informing her that I may have just seen her dog in the woods. I also sent her my exact location, a map and the direction the dog went. The irony that I saw in my quick search was that the park was over nine miles away from the last confirmed location he was seen on Tinker Hill Road. I didn’t stress about whether it was definitely Rambo or not, I sent Rose a link to speak with Michael from Heatseeker Drones. She said she was already working with Michael and thanked me. Koda and I carried on our hike, but all I could think about was that dog hoping he would be okay.   

Rambo is Captured

The next day, on Thursday, January 16th, Rose, Hope, Rocco, Michael, and the rest of the Rambo rescue group assembled on the side of Route 9 about a quarter mile before the 123 Food Stop in Cortlandt. That was the closest location to where I spotted Rambo the day before.   Michael sent his drone skyward and after a few hours spotted Rambo in the southern part of the park. “I see him!” Rose proclaimed as can be heard on the video.

The group was elated. They were not going to let Rambo get away this time, especially with forecasts predicting a large snowstorm on Sunday, January 19, followed by a polar vortex bringing wind chills into the negative temperature range in the upcoming few days.

That evening, Rose sent a message to me: “It is with great pleasure, I can tell you, you are my hero. We found Rambo in the woods! We found him with the drones my daughter and Michael put up in the air.”

After spotting Rambo, Rose’s daughter Hope and Rocco Autero ascended up the rocky terrain and hills to set up multiple feeding stations along a trail. They wanted to get Rambo comfortable eating so that they could then set up a trap. In addition, Rocco set up numerous advanced trail cameras all over the area so they could watch and see how Rocco would respond in real time.

The following day, Rose sent me a message saying “the feeding stations worked. So today we will have Teddy Henn of Long Island Dog Search and Rescue set up a big trap. We pray Rambo goes into it. Keep your fingers crossed!” 

The rest of the story is best described by the Long Island lost Dog Search and Rescue‘s Facebook post on January 19, 2025:

“Rocco set up cameras on the trails & Rambo only showed at the top feedings station & camera, only Coyotes showed at the other cameras. Rocco asked Teddy Henn to come and assist him & bring his extra large trap. Trapping Rambo was of the utmost importance before the snowstorm & frigid cold weather that is expected. The trap was carried all the way up to the top and set where Rambo was hiding…. 25 hours from his last sighting there!”

“Finally he showed up on our camera. It was exhausting and uncomfortable sitting in our vehicles waiting from 7 am – 2:30 am. It was a real nail-biter when he showed. He wouldn’t go all the way in the trap… for over an hour we watched on surveillance Rambo only going in part way, then leave, come back, circle the trap and leave over and over until he finally went in at 2:30 am!” 

Home Sweet Home

After a long and extensive two-and-a-half week search, Rambo was finally caught with the help of friends, neighbors, the surrounding communities, experts in their fields, social media, and the tireless and relentless efforts of Rose Delagi and her daughter Hope.  

After a good rest, bowl full of food and fresh water, Rambo was monitored and taken to a local veterinarian. The vet said for all that Rambo went through, he is in very good health and spirits and the vet cleared Rambo to return home. Today, Rambo is safe and warm in the home of a foster family who will most likely adopt him. Though Rambo was an owner-surrendered dog, who then went on an almost three-week adventure, causing severe concern for many people, Rambo is a very lucky dog. 

There are many dogs out there who are not alway as lucky as Rambo. Many dogs are still looking for their furever home. If you are interested in adopting a dog or cat there are many local rescues and shelters to adopt from, including SPCA Westchester, SNARR Northeast, A Good Dog Rescue, Paws Crossed Animal Rescue, For the Love of Dogs Rescue, the Putnam Humane Society, Hudson Valley Humane Society, and the Humane Society of Westchester, among others. These organizations are always looking for volunteers and donations. Keep your pets safe and warm and give them an extra cuddle today.

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