Tiny dog. Deep storm drain. A Bluffton police officer. Will a happy ending follow?

It was a little after 6 a.m. when Gayle Olszyk let her puppy, Riley, out for a potty break at their Hampton Lake home on Sunday.

The nearly 8-week-old Schnauzer puppy headed straight for the curb where he accidentally fell into a 20-foot-deep storm drain.

“The day before, I had seen the drain and I thought that might be an issue because he’s so small,” Olsyzk said. “His feet when out from underneath him and he went down. I could hear him hit the water and then I couldn’t hear anything.”

Gayle Olszyk ran to her husband Joe in a panic. Joe retrieved an 18-foot ladder and opened the drain. He moved the ladder around the bottom of the drain only to find it difficult to secure.

“Being close to 70 years old, it’s hard for us to get down the ladder and we didn’t know what was at the bottom,” he said.

Riley began yelping for help and the couple called 911 in a bid to save the 7-inch tall, 3-pound pup.

That’s when officers from the Bluffton Police Department arrived.

“They pulled up, assessed the situation and saw the ladder there,” Gayle said.

Officer Cody Kirkman climbed down the ladder and brought Riley safely up.

The pup was checked out by a veterinarian and came back with a clean bill of health, Gayle said.

“Riley went right to (Kirkman),” she said. “He’s our hero. Riley’s new middle name is Cody now.”

This story was originally published July 18, 2017 at 2:34 PM with the headline "Tiny dog. Deep storm drain. A Bluffton police officer. Will a happy ending follow?."