Dog wouldn't leave dead master

A scruffy bitzer dog called Moja was hailed a hero after sticking by his dead master's side for two days and guiding rescuers to the hidden spot where the Sunshine Coast man crashed his car.

Consultant horticulturalist and DPI researcher Henry Drew, 53, of Palmwoods, Australia, died when his utility ran off the Bruce Highway near Curra, north of Gympie, on Friday.

He and his constant companion Moja, who survived the crash uninjured, were thrown into dense scrub as the vehicle plunged several metres down a steep embankment into trees.



All Mr Drew's wife Jenny knew was that her husband had been visiting macadamia farms in the Kin Kin-Gympie region. When he did not respond to her phone calls on Friday afternoon, she became worried and raised the alarm.

Police, family, friends and two AGL rescue helicopters from Bundaberg and Maroochydore began searching, but with a 1000sq km radius to cover, trying to find the white Nissan utility was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

It was not until Saturday that a woman from a farmhouse near Curra decided to investigate after hearing a dog barking for hours on end. Following the noise she found the crash site where she saw Moja sitting next to Mr Drew's body beside the vehicle. Emergency service workers said the utility was impossible to see from the air.