WASHTENAW COUNTY, Mich. – A towing company in Manchester rescued a woman’s pet snake amid a snowstorm pileup on I-94.
The incident occurred on Wednesday (Dec. 11) during whiteout conditions, leading to a small pileup.
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The pileup closed the highway for around six hours, and numerous vehicles were towed, including Jessica, a Canton Township native on her way home from college for the holidays.
Jessica’s ball python, ina, traveled with her during the crash, which led to her escape and disappearance.
The Canton Township native was feeling low about the situation. After an extensive search, she figured Pina must have been ejected during the crash, causing her to lose all hope.
Owner Becky Curtis of Manchester Collision & Towing in Manchester said they brought Jessica’s vehicle back to their storage yard after several hours of clearing the highway to reopen traffic.
Curtis said two of her drivers felt sad for Jessica and wanted to exhaust every effort to make sure Pina wasn’t hidden in the car.
So they brought the vehicle into their shop, heated it, and started looking again before taking the seats out to find Pina’s lifeless body wedged in the back of Jessica’s car.
Pina was cold and had frost on her scales.
Camera footage from inside Curtis' office showed one of the workers, afraid of snakes, come running through the hallway, yelling that she had found Pina to a coworker who rushed to assist.
The coworkers brought Pina into the office and put a space heater on her to try and revive her.
After aid was rendered, the employees put her in a safe spot and had to return to the highway to continue towing.
On Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, employees said they arrived for the morning to a still lifeless Pina.
They said they contacted Jessica’s family to inform them that Pina had been found, but the news wasn’t good.
A few hours later, the family arrived to pick Pina up, and she moved when they grabbed the box.
Jessica picked Pina up and cradled her next to her warm body, and she moved her head back as she was still fighting for her life.
Pina was rushed to the emergency vet in Ann Arbor and spent the night in critical care.
She was discharged to go home the next day and is slowly recovering.
