No Sign Of Cooper Despite Several Searches On LBI This Weekend

September 26 was a beautiful day at the beach in Haven Beach on Long Beach Island.

The sand was warm, the sky was cloudless and Maryann Wurst’s grandchildren romped near the surf. One of the many photos Wurst took that noon shows a beautiful black and white dog with no tail, playing with one the kids. It was one of the last photos she took that day of Cooper, the Wurst family’s much-loved 16-year-old deaf therapy dog.

Wurst doesn’t know what happened to her boy. Her husband had gone back to their home in Mississippi Avenue to get some games for the children, who were getting a little antsy. Maybe Cooper got up, shook the sand off and went to follow him. Maybe he got disoriented.

Wurst doesn’t know. But she and her family are steadfast in their resolve to find their dog. Volunteers spread out across Long Beach Island over the weekend, but had no luck. They will be back.

The Wursts have also been the victims of cruelty. On Oct. 30, someone called Wurst, told her they had found Cooper and were keeping him safe until the family could come and get him. When Maryanne frantically grabbed a pencil and paper, the person on the other end of the call started to laugh and hung up.

Wurst posted this message on her Facebook page “Cooper Come Home” after a long day searching. Then she headed back to the family’s home in North Jersey.

“What an amazing effort by everyone to bring my dog family back together,“ she wrote. “Thank you for your time & energy especially the hugs.

Searching started on Thursday - that team had to brave the rain.

Then Friday I received some information from a communicator to search Lanoka Harbor area on the mainland - we got 100 fliers up in that area while others continued where Thursday ended.

While I was at Staples getting more fliers made, I received a call about the sighting in North Beach. And you came to help again! Saturday came with a record number of people and lots of time was spent searching both the Haven Beach & North Beach areas. I also received a call about a possible black dog wandering the dunes in Barnegat Light. Omg this is crazy but we have to follow every lead.

It just might be Cooper. The dogs & I hiked the dunes at Barnegat for few hours. Lots to drink & eat for a loose dog. The rest of the day we plastered the area with those pretty pink fliers.

It is so hard to leave the island without him. But I know there are so many that will check on his whereabouts this week. I left his dog bed with my clothes at the sighting in North Beach and have great new friends checking it. I was even given a million dog search bracelet. All this energy - I know Cooper will come home.”

Cooper is an Australian shepherd. He is black with some patches of white. He weighs 35 pounds and has no tail. Since he is a therapy dog, he is friendly. But he may be scared and disoriented. He went missing between the beach and the family’s home at 116 Mississippi Avenue on Sept. 26.

Anyone who has seen Cooper, please call 201-777-0189 immediately.