Molly showed up after a tornado leveled much of Pierce City on May 4, 2003. She was there to join the search for survivors.

She also went to Carl Junction about the same time, again to search for people who might have been trapped in their storm-demolished homes.

She helped search for 16-year-old Weston Powell’s body last summer in a swollen Spring River.

And Molly was there to identify the vehicle that allegedly transported 9-year-old murder victim Rowan Ford’s body when police were searching for the missing girl last fall.

Now, Molly needs help.

Molly, a 5-year-old chocolate Labrador retriever, is a Newton County search-and-rescue dog. She is scheduled for surgery Thursday at the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine. She is having a pacemaker installed that may allow her to continue providing her service.

Molly and her owners, trainers and handlers, Allen and Alicia Brown, of Saginaw, are volunteers with the Newton County K-9 search-and-rescue team.

Allen Brown works as a paramedic, Alicia Brown as a nurse. They have put in hundreds of hours searching for bodies in emergencies. The K-9 search-and-rescue unit is composed of volunteers and doesn’t have a budget. Allen Brown said the few fund-raisers the group holds each year go to pay for equipment maintenance.

Medtronic, a medical technology company, offered to donate the pacemaker Wednesday, but the surgery, vet and travel costs could stack up to more than $2,000. For the Browns, the decision to either put their dog to sleep or have the expensive surgery was difficult.

“So many people have lost their homes recently, I feel bad asking for anything,” Alicia Brown said. “We’re so good at helping out our community. We’re just not very good at accepting any help ourselves.”

Patrice Graham, another member of the Newton County K-9 search-and-rescue team, thinks that is just wrong.

“I know that everyone is tight, but these people do a lot of volunteer work,” Graham said.

The K-9 unit has been part of the volunteer Newton County search-and-rescue team for the past two years. The unit has five dogs certified and three others in training.

The Browns’ other rescue dog, 13-year-old Hope, helped locate several bodies after the May 10 tornado struck at Iris Road and Highway 43.

Cost of new dog