Right before Christmas, we brought you the story of a dog that had escaped from its crate while being transferred between two Delta flights in Atlanta. Unfortunately, news reports say the dog was discovered dead near a highway over the weekend.

CBS Atlanta reports that Nala, the German shepherd that was en route from San Diego to Frankfurt, Germany, when she went missing, was found dead along I-75 on Saturday.

In her original message to Consumerist, the dog’s owner wrote:

[A]bout ten minutes before the dogs were to be boarded on the flight to Frankfurt, I got a call that Nala was trying to get out of her kennel so they wanted her to spend the night at the dog kennel and they would put her on the flight the next day. They also said she needed a larger kennel. I said fine. It was now December 22 and I did not hear from anyone so I assumed everything was going as planned. I called the international cargo desk about an hour before take-off to confirm that both dogs were boarded. I was transferred to a man who told me that Nala had escaped from the kennel and ran off like a bullet and they were looking for her. He said he did not have my phone number to call and tell me this. I was in shock and didn’t ask any details and hung up.

Delta had put up a $1,000 reward for Nala, and now says it will be making a $1,000 donation to an Atlanta based animal rescue group.

Army Officer’s Dog Missing From Airport Found Dead [CBS Atlanta]

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