Year end 2022: The unusual stories from the region

While 2022 was a calmer year than recent others in Southeast Missouri -- cough, cough, 2020 -- it still featured a few unusual stories.

Among them ...

Cavers find lost dog

While exploring a Perry County cave system in early August, cavers discovered more than they bargained for.

A lost dog.

Abby had been missing for about two months, according to her human, Jeff Bohner.

A group of youngsters first came upon Abby, and experienced caver Gerry Keene of Perryville was the first adult to see her.

Keene and Rick Haley rescued Abby, calming her and giving her what food items they had.

"She was just laying there balled up on the mud floor," Haley said. "She did not get up or wag her tail, she was in pretty bad shape. It was obvious she had been there a long time. She was skin and bones, emaciated. There's plenty of water down there but zero things to eat."

Haley brought a duffel bag and a blanket to put Abby in, so she would be easier to move back out of the cave.

"She was willing to get up and walk around when we got back to the surface, but she was shaky and staggering," Haley said.

Another caver, Rob Cohoon, fed her some beef jerky.

"Rob almost lost his finger tips when he fed her," Haley said.

Bohner said Abby quickly began recovering from her experience.

"Abby is recovering well," Bohner said after the rescue. "She's still very thin, but she's been eating well. She's slowly getting back to a regular diet. She's walking around and friendly. Looks like she's going to make a full recovery."

So, how did she get lost in the cave?

The men speculated heavy rains may have washed her below ground.

Edward Spalding recently retired from Food Giant in Cape Girardeau, the grocery store where he held his first job as a teenager.Danny Walter

Full circle

In September, Edward Spalding retired as store manager at Food Giant in Cape Girardeau.

The retirement completed a lifetime employment circle -- Spalding's first job was as a 16-year-old stocker after school and on weekends at the grocery store.

Spalding stayed in the grocery business, working at chains in Cape Girardeau and St. Louis. In 2009, he accepted an assistant manager position with Food Giant in Sikeston, Missouri. A decade later, the manager position in Cape Girardeau opened, and he jumped at the chance.

"It's my hometown, and my parents still lived here," Spalding said of the opportunity to return to Cape Girardeau. "I would come down to visit every other week, and I would always stop by the Food Giant because I knew most people there who had also worked at (another grocery)."

Spalding has big plans for his new free time.

"I'm going to take it easy through the winter months, but then my wife and I want to do some traveling out west," Spalding said. "Most of my vacations have been stay-at-home, so we're excited to see places like Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon."

The sun sets on Tower Rock in Perry County, Missouri. The island was accessible by foot recently because of the low level of the Mississippi River, and thousands of people visited the site.Megan Burke

Accessible landmark

Though low water levels of the Mississippi River have hampered commerce for much of the year, there was a silver lining, at least for nature enthusiasts.

In October and into November, tourists could walk to Tower Rock, a well-known river landmark in Perry County, east of Altenburg. The formation itself is part of Tower Rock Natural Area, a 32-acre expanse.

State Department of Conservation officials estimated more than 30,000 people flocked to the area for the rare opportunity, enough of a crowd for the department to bump up staffing at the site and bring in portable restroom facilities.

Officials reminded those visiting Tower Rock that railroad tracks near the site are active -- a fact at least one visitor reportedly failed to acknowledge, resulting in damage to a vehicle parked too close.

"We ask visitors to please use good judgment when parking and navigating the area," a spokesman said.

K-9 Rex

MY dog

Another dog story in the region was much more contentious and has not yet been fully settled.

The saga of Rex, a Scott County Sheriff's Office K-9 unit, began on social media in December, by the dog's former handler, Hunter Juden.

Juden had been a deputy sheriff with the department, and when Sheriff Wes Drury announced plans to retire Rex, Juden began a push for ownership of the dog.

The issue came to a head at a Scott County Commission meeting in which commissioners Jim Glueck, Terry Cole and Donnie Kiefer and incoming Presiding Commissioner-elect Danny Tetley said Juden should get Rex.

An order approved by the commissioners reads: "The Scott County Commission has determined that K-9 Rex has met his time of service for the Scott County and its citizens. He is now 9 years old, and considering his age, the amount of money and time needed to retrain him for further service, it's in Scott County's best interest to retire the dog and deem him surplus property for Scott County. Further, the Scott County Commission is ordering the release of said property, K-9 Rex, to Hunter Juden."

And that appeared to be that, with Juden fetching Rex from a boarder a short time afterward.

However ...

Drury did not roll over and play dead.

The next day he issued a statement of his own: "Outgoing Commissioner (Jim) Glueck, aided only by Commissioner (Terry) Cole, entered a statement, wholly beyond their authority as county commissioner, that the canine should be given to Hunter Juden, who is a private citizen and not a deputy with the Sheriff's Office. ... The good citizens of this county made their donations in order to assist the Scott County Sheriff's Office in fulfilling its duties to protect the safety of the people of Scott County," Drury said. "It is disappointing that outgoing Commissioner Glueck and Commissioner Cole would take such an action beyond the authority of their office. The citizens of Scott County deserve better than this from their elected officials."

Prosecuting Attorney Amanda Oesch previewed perhaps the inevitable.

"There's always legal remedies available," she said. "This could end up in court and it could end up for a judge to decide, but I believe, based on what the Commission heard today, as well as the research that we've done in regards to K-9 Rex, his service, other K-9s across the state of Missouri and the training going forward, I think the Commission is supported in their decision, and I think they're within their legal bounds."

Tree Top Saloon in Pocahontas is a unique event venue, bar and restaurant. The novel bar/restaurant is owned by Angela and Rocky Leimer.Submitted

What a view!

Some event venues come with an oceanside view or overlook a city skyline.

Tree Top Saloon in Pocahontas is set to offer a view from the ... well ... treetops.

The treehouse sits 25 feet off the ground, at its highest point. Located in a remote location at 4946 County Road 532, the treehouse's parking lot is down a hill, and patrons will get shuttled to the saloon in a UTV.

"About nine years ago, my husband, Rocky, was watching the reality TV show 'Treehouse Masters' on Animal Planet, and he thought he would build us a small treehouse of our own," Angela Leimer said.

Several additions later, the facility had become more than just a unique getaway.

"Some friends of ours told us, 'It's gotten so big, you ought to open it up to the public,' so now we're going to," she said.

Leimer said the treehouse has become an event venue and bar and will soon feature food service.

"We haven't quite figured out the menu yet, but I'm sure we'll have hamburgers and chicken wings. We'll open the bar first and integrate the food into that system," she said.

Leonna Heuring of the Standard Democrat in Sikeston, Missouri, contributed reporting.