Kari Wilkes has turned the day that changed her life into her life's passion.
"It was a scary thing," said Wilkes. "It was really dark. I could see debris just flying."
Last May 22nd, while her daughter was at school and her husband at work, an F-5 tornado ripped through her home in Joplin, Missouri.
To stay alive, she and her dogs, Bear Bear and Hanah, hid in a closet.
"Once the door flew open, it sucked Hanah out of my arms," said Wilkes. "I was being pulled forward as well. I was able to get my bearings back and get into the closet and my other dog threw himself on top of me to weigh me down."
Kari's mother, Vicky Valanti, heard the ordeal over the phone in her Little River home.
"Just the screaming, we thought she was taken up into the tornado, and she had just dropped the phone," said Valanti. "We were disconnected, and the minutes seemed like hours. She finally called us."
Kari thought Hanah was gone forever, but two days later, she received hope. Someone responded to her flyer.
But when Kari went to pick the dog up, she was too late. Hanah had run away.
Since then, the search for the one blue eyed - one hazel eyed American Bulldog has gone cold.
She said she keeps searching because she knows Hanah is alive.
She believes someone took Hanah out of state not realizing she had a home. Kari turned to Facebook for help.
More than 13,000 people have joined in the effort to bring Hanah home including Karen Heath of Wilmington.
"I just know how I would feel if it were one of my animals," said Heath. "I just want to do everything I could to help them find Hanah."
Unwavering faith that's led thousands on a search for the one thing this family wants more than anything else.
"One of these days we're going to get that call and it is going to be her," said Wilkes.
