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Dog Gone

It was unlike Kona not to snap back to the side of her owner, Ricky Brannon, a former animal trainer, as soon as he called. But during their June 1 Mount Charleston hike, Kona darted after a squirrel and, within seconds, slipped over the edge of a steep dropoff covered with scree. Anyone who’s loved a pet can imagine Brannon’s panic as he scoured the hillside for two hours — and his anguish at having to give up before finding her.

“Kona is my rock … my everything,” he says. His loyal sidekick has helped him through many life changes.

And she’ll be there through more. On June 6, a couple leaving Lee Canyon spotted a weary black dog walking along the road. They took her to an RVer staying at the McWilliams campground, then left. Within an hour, his dad was filming Brannon and Kona’s tearful reunion.

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This wasn’t just good luck. Brannon and a host of Samaritans helped make it happen. He wrote a moving Facebook post that was shared some 14,000 times. Overwhelmed, he started a group, Bring Kona Home, which garnered 1,600 followers. Relatives came to Las Vegas to hike miles of trails near where she fell. This is why the couple who found Kona recognized her and knew who to call.

But a mystery remains: Who were they? During the flurry of activity and emotion, Brannon misplaced their names, and, as of press time, they hadn’t come forward.

Desert Companion welcomed Heidi Kyser as staff writer in January 2014. In 2018, she was promoted to senior writer and producer, working for both DC and KNPR's State of Nevada. She produced KNPR’s first podcast, the Edward R. Murrow Regional Award-winning Native Nevada, in 2020. The following year, she returned her focus full-time to Desert Companion, becoming Deputy Editor, which meant she was next in line to take over when longtime editor Andrew Kiraly left in July 2022. In 2024, Interim CEO Favian Perez promoted Heidi to managing editor, charged with integrating the Desert Companion and State of Nevada newsroom operations.