THOMASTON — Marci Molloy said she was convinced her two dogs were dead when they had not returned home after escaping the yard and being loose for two days.

But English setters Ingrid and her daughter Helen were found by what Molloy believes was divine intervention — they were spotted by her ex-husband floating on an ice floe on the St. George River.

Molloy said she had let the two dogs out on Sunday morning and then later in the morning realized they had not come back inside. She went outside and realized that all the snow that had fallen over the past two weeks allowed the dogs to get over their dog fence and also a cow fence.

Molloy went looking for the setters but with no success. On Monday, she resumed her search on snowshoes while friends went out looking on snowmobiles, but without success.

She said that with the cold temperatures and another snowstorm Monday, she was convinced the dogs had died.

“They are pampered pets,” she said.

Then on Tuesday afternoon shortly before sunset, as her ex-husband Alvin Chase Jr. was driving on Route 1 and about to cross the bridge over the St. George River, he saw two dogs on an ice floe under the nearby railroad trestle. Though they were several miles away from Molloy’s home, Chase recognized them as her pets.

Chase pulled into a parking lot and called out 4-year-old Ingrid’s name. He couldn’t remember the 2-year-old dog’s name, but both started jumping from one section of ice to another toward Chase. They soon managed to reach shore and Chase was able to return them safe and sound to Molloy, she said.

Molloy said she is so glad to have them back home.