Blue came home Thursday.
The 6-year-old Australian shepherd and blue heeler mix — completely blind since age 3 — had been missing for 16 days after slipping out of his yard along Kings Valley Highway north of Alexander Road. His return capped a search effort that drew dozens of volunteers, involved thermal drones, game cameras and social media campaigns, and spanned a stretch of rural Benton County terrain thick with blackberry brambles and poison oak.
The dog was found March 26 by neighbors Nicole and Blake Sharp about a mile from his home. They had spotted a white dog walking in circles and recognized him from flyers posted along the roadside…