MADISON, Wis. -- A group of volunteers is coming to the aid of a Minnesota family that lost its dog in a serious car crash last week.

Kate and Jeremy Wenzel, of Zimmerman, Minn., were on their way to the Milwaukee area for Christmas when they lost control of their car on Interstate 90/94 in Sauk County on Dec. 23.

Their car rolled three times down an embankment, and their 15-month-old puppy, Owen, hasn't been seen since.

Now Angela Bubolz, Heidi Shields and a group of volunteers are looking for a dog they've never seen for a family they've never met.

"You have a bad wreck like this and the dog is lost, I just couldn't not do something about it," Bubolz said.

"He's a puppy. He's lost, and we need to find him. We need to do it for him. We need to do it for the Wenzels. They clearly love him, and he needs us," Shields said.

While volunteers are searching and passing out fliers, the Wenzels are home in Minnesota, healing from minor injuries and hoping their dog is found.

"Animals do amazing things, especially if he can get in and out of the elements, especially at night. It is a long shot, so that's why we're really hoping that somebody picked him up, took him in and just hasn't turned him in to a shelter," Bubolz said.

The volunteers said they know that Owen is more than a puppy -- he's a member of the Wenzel family.

"Basically, Owen is our kid. We don't have kids yet, and he has been our child and we love him so much. He's so important to our lives," said Kate Wenzel.

The volunteers said they will continue to search for Owen.

"It's been really encouraging and it's brought us hope. Regardless if they can find him or not, we really can't thank these people enough," Kate Wenzel said.

The group will start searching again Thursday morning, meeting at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot of "Big O's" trailers on Highway 33. If they find Owen, the volunteers said they plan on personally taking him back to his home in Minnesota.