A Bay area man thought he'd lost his best friend during a day on the water, but some local college students made sure that didn't happen.
Nick Felts and his dog, Soco, are inseparable.
“Very, very big part of my life,” said Felts. “Don’t know what I would do without her."
Felts was out on a boat traveling near the Sunshine Skyway when at some point Soco leaped off
"After about two minutes, I started looking around and I couldn’t find her,” said Felts. “She was not on the boat anymore, so I obviously started freaking out, because this is my daughter.”
After searching for more than two hours, Felts thought the worst and headed home.
“[I thought] a boat had possibly run her over, that she had drowned,” said Felts.
Luckily someone found Soco paddling along, brought her on his boat and handed her to some students at Eckerd College.
Melody Chaplin is part of the college's search and rescue program. She took Soco and made sure she was OK.
“He was waving his hands up in the air frantically as he was trying to pull in,” said Chaplin. “Had all signs that she was healthy, just a little wet.”
Student Bryan Foley took Soco home and cared for her. Then he tracked Felts down.
“I called him and was like, ‘Hey, is this Nick? I got your number from Animal Services. I think I have your dog,' and he was like, ‘Oh my God,’ ” said Foley.
Thanks to their help Felts and Soco were reunited again.
Felts said he wants to find the person who found his dog and thank them.
“Even if we just meet at the sand bar one day, basically just shake their hand or give him a hug,” said Felts.
As a reward, Felts brought Soco to see her rescuers. Felts also treated the students to lunch.