An influencer and his golden retriever were both tragically killed in a car crash days before completing a driving trip from Brazil to Alaska.
Jesse Koz was just two days from completing the journey when his 1978 Volkswagen Beetle was involved in a car crash where he died along with his pet called Shurastey.
He had been documenting his trip with photos of himself and his dog in iconic locations throughout the American continent.
He had travelled 52,000 miles through 17 countries before the fatal crash, where he collided with a Ford Escape on US Highway 199, near Selma, in Oregon.
The driver of the Ford, Eileen Huss, 62, and a two-year-old passenger in her car both suffered minor injuries.
Jesse had started his journey in 2017 but his trip was slowed down by the Covid pandemic and he had to return to Brazil after not being able to cross from Mexico to the United States in 2020.
But not disheartened he started again the following year, calling the trip “Shurastey or Shuaigow” - a play on the dog’s day and The Clash song “Should I stay or should I go”.
Koz said: "We left Mexico in September 2020 with the idea of staying only four months in Brazil with the hope that the Mexico-US border would open again.
"But the months went by, and no news that this would happen, month after month after month (of) expectation was decreasing and the dream of completing the drive with the Beetle was (disappearing)."
At the second attempt he was able to enter Texas on February 9 before later visiting the NASA Space Center in Houston.
On February 10 he posted a pic of himself with his dog in front of a sunset.
Jesse said: "I told him how important he was to me, and that I wouldn't have made it this far without his company.
"He just smiled with his tongue hanging out and breathed not my face. I just wanted to enjoy a sunset in the company of my friend, I know we still have many more to come and as far as it depends on me we will always be together until the sun sets one last time."
His journey saw him meet Brazilian Formula 1 driver Rubens Barrichello in Florida and iconic locations such as Time Square in New York and the Niagara Falls.
Having headed west and past through San Francisco he posted last Saturday about the final leg of the journey to Alaska.
"Hey my friends it's time to enter Canada and finally head to Alaska." he wrote.
"It has already started to get cold at the camp from yesterday to today and from now on it will colder and colder.
"But the good thing about the tent is that it withstands negative temperatures well and keeps the interior very warm and it also has a ventilation system that helps (keeps out the hot air)."
