Dog stayed with Lufkin boy until he was rescued

LUFKIN — The two sisters screamed the little boy's name as they walked through the woods. Both were near hysterics early Sunday morning. After ten hours of searching the women began to lose hope of ever finding the 6-year-old boy.

A.J. Bonazzi never strayed farther than just around the block and always checked in on a regular basis. But on Saturday evening he began following a neighborhood dog. By the time he realized he'd gone farther than he should A.J. no longer knew the way home.

Courtesy photo (enlarge photo) Hank, a cow dog, helped save the life of A.J. Bonazzi over the weekend when Bonazzi wandered off and got lost.

When a stranger saw the boy walking along the road with the dog he asked him if he should maybe think about heading back home. A.J., remembering the wisdom his parents had handed down to him, didn't talk to the strange man. Instead he turned around to head the other direction.

Back at the house, A.J.'s parents and aunt realized they hadn't seen him since around 6:30 that evening when he'd been outside playing in the yard. At around 8 Saturday night, after searching nearby and knocking on a few neighbors' doors for 15 minutes, they called the police.

"All the neighbors came out and were looking in the woods for him," said Catherine Allen, A.J.'s aunt.

Allen and A.J.'s mother and stepfather, Anna May Bonazzi and Jeremy Klae, began calling the local radio stations. They called the local TV news, KTRE, to ask them to put something on the news about it and then called every restaurant to ask if they could tune their TVs to the news, hoping to get the word out.

Allen said she thought every police officer in Lufkin must have joined in the search.

"There were police everywhere," Allen said.

Lufkin police joined by the K-9 unit, neighbors, concerned volunteers, the fire department and others, all came together Saturday night to help look for the missing boy. Lufkin police established lanes west of Cox Road. The man who had seen A.J. earlier in the day called police to let them know where and when he'd seen the boy. They divided the volunteers, which numbered somewhere between 100 and 150, into different groups. Each group had between eight and ten people with a police officer to help.

The Lufkin Police Department called the Department of Public Safety to request a helicopter with infrared or night vision, but the helicopter had to be called off due to too much ground clutter.

During this time, Hank, the black and white cow dog, never left the little boy's side.

"My sister thinks Hank saved him," Allen said. "Just a couple of days before we told him dogs have a great sense of direction."

When A.J. realized he was lost he remembered what his mother had said and stayed near Hank, following him to a farmhouse about three miles away.

"There were cows on the land," Allen said. "When they started coming toward him Hank pushed the cows away. He was protecting A.J."

At 3 Sunday morning, A.J., exhausted from his long walk and fear, lay down behind a water pump at the farmhouse to go to sleep.

"Hank wouldn't let him sleep," Allen said, adding she thought he heard their screaming and wanted A.J. to stay awake.

"I was tired," A.J. said.

A.J.'s stepfather, Jeremy Klae, sat in the driveway of their home trying not to panic. Klae was sitting there at 3:50 a.m. when he got the call from a family friend that they had found A.J.

Klae ran in the house to tell everyone the good news. When Allen and Anna Mae ran out to meet them they were greeted with the sweetest sight a mother could ask for after a night of terror. Their friend pulled into the driveway, the little boy sound asleep in his arms.

A.J. was covered in bug bites, scratches and mud, but, to the relief of his parents and aunt, was just fine.

"We want to thank the police department, volunteers, fire department, K-9 units, just anyone and everyone, our neighbors," Allen said. "Without their help and participation we wouldn't have found him."

Allen said she could hardly believe the concern shown over the weekend by friends, neighbors and even total strangers. She said the following day Assistant Police Chief Scott Marcotte checked in on A.J. and the family to make sure they were doing OK. Others also stopped by.

One volunteer gave A.J. a stuffed monkey, which he named Hank, after the dog who helped save his life.

"The probability of us finding him without Hank was very slim," Allen said, adding they gave the dog lots of treats for his heroism.

Monday, A.J., a kindergartner at Trout Elementary, went to the kindergarten classes to talk about his experience and about what they should and shouldn't do if they get lost.

"We always say don't talk to strangers," Allen said. "But in a situation like this sometimes the child needs to talk to someone because that person might be able to help."