After a pickup truck struck and killed the dog’s blind owner on their morning walk in Tennessee, the dog decided to walk home by itself, according to the authorities.

Around 6:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, the event took place in Nashville’s Madison area. According to the Nashville Police Department, a 50-year-old blind woman was struck while walking her dog across a bridge on Rio Vista Drive.

There were no witnesses to the crash and the driver fled the scene, but chrome grill pieces from a 2009 to 2014 Ford F-150 were discovered in the road, according to police.

A bystander discovered the victim and dialled 911. Police say that after being taken to a nearby hospital, the woman was declared dead. The victim’s name hasn’t been made public yet since investigators are trying to find and contact her relatives.

After the event, authorities went to the victim’s apartment building in the neighbourhood and discovered her dog there, unhurt. Metro Animal Control in Nashville is now taking care of the animal, according to the police.

According to ABC Nashville affiliate WKRN, animal control personnel are trying to locate the dog’s next-of-kin. According to WKRN, the pet will follow the regular protocol for finding a new home if no one can be found.

The dog and Hachik, a male Japanese Akita that became a global cultural icon of fidelity, are somewhat similar. Each day after making his way home from work, Hachik was rumoured to meet his owner at a train station in Tokyo. After the owner died of a brain haemorrhage while at work in 1925, Hachikō famously returned to the station everyday, expecting his owner’s return until his own death in 1935.

Call Nashville Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463 if you have any information on Wednesday’s fatal crash or a Ford F-150 with extensive grill damage.