Cat lost in blizzard conditions after Colorado crash saved by volunteer animal rescue team

A cat lost in blizzard conditions after a crash in Colorado has been reunited with her family following a six-day search in some of the harshest weather Summit Lost Pet Rescue said it has ever faced.

The story starts after a car crash on the westbound side of I-70 just outside the Eisenhower and Johnson Memorial Tunnels.

"Animal control got a report literally outside the tunnel of a car that veered off the road," said Brandon Ciullo with Summit Lost Pet Rescue. "The front passenger window was broken in the melee, and the cat escaped and ran straight up the hillside, up the rocks, into the woods."

Aria, the cat, was lost. Volunteers responded quickly but were met with extreme conditions upon reaching the tunnels. Crews spent hours on the mountain during the initial search, battling blowing snow and high winds.

"The winds were also blowing snow into the area,"  Rescuer Shelly Wasson said. "So all the little nooks and crannies that she could have got into were filling up with snow and making it more difficult for us to try to find her."

After the first attempt failed, the team kept returning, day after day, focusing on places where the cat might avoid deep snow.

"I was just looking for bare spots of ground because I knew she would probably not want to be on snow," Wasson said.

Six days into the search, persistence paid off.

"I know I'd looked under this same log at least two or three times before," Wasson explained. "But this time the snow was completely gone. I got under there, and of course, she's a gray striped tabby, so she blended in quite well with a dead log, but I spotted her."

Once they found Aria, rescuers moved quickly to make sure she could not escape again. "Amy (Kahle) got on one side of the log, and I was on the other because she could get under and out both sides," Wasson said.

When they finally pulled her free, it was clear how close the rescue had come.

"She was covered in snowballs," Wasson said. "I'm so glad we got her when we did. I don't know how much longer she could have lasted out there. She was so cold."

Aria's owner, Dat Nguyen, had been searching as well and rushed to meet the team when he got the call. When he was reunited with her thanks to the Summit County Lost Pet Rescue, the relief was immediate.

"My heart's pounding, my heart's pounding," Nguyen said. "We are very happy to get her back."

Now back home, Nguyen says Aria is recovering well. "She's at least 80% better," he said. "And she's very happy to be home."

Nguyen says the rescue brought more than just his pet back. "Our heart is healing," he said. "Thank you. Thank you for the rescue team. Not thanking enough."

For the volunteers, that moment made the danger worth it.

"I just knew once I saw her," Wasson said, "I am not coming off this mountain until you're with me."

Summit Lost Pet Rescue is a nonprofit organization run entirely by volunteers. Organizers said community support helps make rescues like this possible, even in the most extreme conditions.