Oxford family's mini horse missing since 4th of July has died

OXFORD, Mich. (WJBK) - UPDATE: The family posted on Facebook the night of Tuesday, July 10 that PonyBoy has been found but is deceased. 

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It's an emotional time for Jennifer O'Berry and her family. Their mini horse PonyBoy has been missing since the 4th of July.

“He got out the property when the fireworks started,” she said. “They startled him, he may have run through the electric fence.”

Since last Wednesday, O'Berry family members and volunteers have launched a grueling search to find the mini horse, believed to be somewhere in a dense cornfield. 

“We’ve just been searching,” said O’Berry.

FOX 2: “What’s that search like?”

“Just on foot walking with the horses, on the golf cart, on ATVs, walking through the entire neighborhood asking door-to-door if anyone has seen him,” she said.

On Monday, Fox 2 found O'Berry and her family out looking. One day earlier, she walked eight miles looking for PonyBoy. A paraglider also volunteered to search.

But O'Berry says when a drone was sent up to search, that's when they got a glimmer of hope.

“We saw his image on a drone that we had come out,” she said. “We definitely think that we know where he is at. 

“He’s in a cornfield, he’s scared, especially after everything that’s been going on and him missing for so many days. I’m sure he’s just terrified at this point.”

O'Berry says she doesn't know how much longer PonyBoy can last under these conditions.

“Because it’s so dry and there’s no water, that’s my main concern,” she said. “I’m worried he’s running out of water. We need to find him within the next couple of days.”

The family is hoping that the sound and their mini horse called Bubbles can help bring PonyBoy back home.

“Poor little winnie is what we hope PonyBoy can hear,” she said. “Her little nay, if he hears that, he’s going to come. That’s his friend and he wants to be with her.”

The family is also using social media to help in this search. It's a search they hope will ultimately have a happy ending.

“We’re going to find him,” she said.