Dog Jumps Off Boat In Sandy Hook Bay, Now Missing

SANDY HOOK BAY, NJ — A Hillsborough couple is holding out hope their year-and-half-year-old Golden Retriever, Jersey, is still alive after she jumped off their motor boat Saturday evening in Sandy Hook Bay.

"It was 5:30 p.m. Saturday and we were about a half mile from shore," owner Anne Finetto told Patch Tuesday morning. "She was sitting at my husband's feet as he was driving and that's when a piece of plastic blew off our boat. My husband turned his body to try and catch it and suddenly we looked back and she was just gone."

While Finetto never saw Jersey jump into the water, she and her husband assume she jumped off the boat to catch the plastic. They immediately turned the boat around and followed their GPS back, tracing the route they had come.

Alarmingly, they never saw the dog in the water. It was if she simply disappeared from the boat. They were across from the Atlantic Highlands marina when it happened.

Finetto broke down crying Tuesday morning.

"She may have hit her head when she jumped ... " she trailed off.

"I know we should have had a life jacket on her, but we just didn't think about that," she said. "My husband and I take her out in the motorboat all the time and she's never jumped off before. But we have to keep out hope that my dog is still alive. She's my dog."

Jersey is a very strong swimmer, Finetto said, and, as a young dog, she's very energetic. The couple has seen her swim for 45 minutes straight chasing geese. That photo above was taken on Saturday, the day she went missing, at Horsehoe Cove in Sandy Hook Gateway National Recreation Area. She hadn't swum much that day, so Finetto is extremely hopeful she had the strength to swim to shore, which was in sight.

The couple stayed in the boat Saturday night as some thunderstorms rolled in, and searched for her in the weather. No luck. They woke up at 4:30 a.m. Sunday and again Monday to look for her. They've received reports of a similar-looking dog in Sandy Hook and Monmouth Beach, but everything has turned up negative so far, she said.

If anyone sees Jersey, please call Anne Finetto at 732-735-9835. She had her collar on when she jumped.

Photo provided of Jersey provided by Anne Finetto.