Malachi, 5, an Alaskan malamute, went missing Sept. 29, 2024, at the Pendleton Adventure Trails near the airport in Pendleton. The dog's owners, Shaindel Beers and Matt DeGarmo, are asking for the community's help to find their dog and are offering a $500 reward for his safe return.

PENDLETON — Shaindel Beers and Matt DeGarmo, of Pendleton, are asking for the community’s help to find their dog, Malachi. And now the reward for his safe return stands at $1,000.

Beers and DeGarmo put up $500 for a reward for Malachi. Beers, vice president of the Pendleton Animal Welfare Shelter, on Tuesday, Oct. 1, reported someone donated $500 more to the effort to bring home the dog.

Malachi is a 5-year-old Alaskan malamute that weighs 100 pounds. The couple rescued him five years ago at the Blue Mountain Humane Society in Walla Walla. Through the years, Malachi has played an essential role at PAWS.

DeGarmo said he began hiking down their usual trail with Malachi off leash at the Pendleton Adventure Trails Sunday, Sept. 29 around 6 p.m. on Airport Hill. Malachi then dashed up the hill toward the parking lot and never returned.

“We’ve done this 500 to 1,000 times over the past five years on that trail,” he said. “Sometimes I have to go get him, sometimes he loops back, but this time he did not return and when I went to the parking lot he was gone.”

DeGarmo combed through the area but could not find Malachi. He pressed on through the night by camping on an air mattress at the trail parking lot. He went as far as planting clothes around the area so Malachi would able to sniff out their scent to help him return, but Malachi did not appear.

“We think that somebody thought he was a lost dog and put him in their vehicle,” Beers said. “But his collar has his name and has our phone number embroidered on it. So I’m not sure what happened to be honest.”

Beers said PAWS uses Malachi to see if other dogs are good with other canines and helps track other missing dogs. In 2022, Malachi found a canine that was lost at Emigrant Springs State Park by tracking him through the snow.

Anyone with information about Malachi can contact Beers at 541-310-0331 and DeGarmo at 541-310-1065. The couple’s contact information also is on the dog’s collar.