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On Thursday, with hope running slim, the couple got the good news that May had been found by three snowmachiners on a trail.

“We had just pulled over on the side of the trail … and about 100 yards away a dog was trotting down the trail,” one of the snowmachiners, Kaitlin Koch, 22, told the Anchorage Daily News. “It was coming at a pretty slow pace, and we were waiting to see if someone on a four-wheeler or snowmachine was with her.”

Describing the dog as alone, skinny and with blood on her paws, Koch said she got off her sled and approached May, who welcomed the help.

“She came right up to me,” Koch said. “She sat in my lap the entire trip back to Big Lake.”

The trio had doubts that the missing Iditarod dog they had heard about could be this one, so far away from the race’s end, but they called Iditarod headquarters to report her found, just in case. One hour later, one of Lanier’s friends arrived to take the dog home, reports the Daily News.

“It’s an incredible journey,” said the friend, Stan Smith, to the Daily News, also noting the dog had eaten canned salmon and kibble stew as part of her recovery.

A Facebook post from Lanier, who could not be reached today by ABCNews.com, estimates that May traveled over 150 miles before being found while Smith, himself an Iditarod veteran, told the Daily News he thought May likely traveled 300 to 400 miles.

Based on the sightings of May reported along the course, Smith, who also could not be reached today, believes the dog was trying to find her way back to the start of the race but missed a crucial turn along the way.

“She was absolutely running home,” he told the Daily News. “She traveled several times from Rohn to Nikolai, all the way up the Dalzell Gorge, up the Alaska Range to the other side, through Rainy Pass, across Shell Lake; she was spotted multiple times in Skwentna. So many reports of seeing her. They were all heading south.”

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We are still uncertain as to what exactly happened, but working on it. There was substantial inflammation of the hock joint on seven dogs. An injury I have never seen and especially on multiple dogs. Right now we are assuming the virus may have played a part....We will be drawing blood samples today for examination and a joint tap to draw some synovial fluid from the joint to be examined also.

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