A dog &#8220orphaned” in Warren County nearly two weeks ago is back in Pennsylvania.

Truck driver Richard &#8220Rick” Koppenhaver, 48, of Lebanon, Pa., was found dead of natural causes Sept. 24 in his 18-wheeler at the eastbound Interstate 20 rest area. Bandit, his 6-year-old cocker spaniel, was found with him.

&#8220He seems happy and is eating and drinking,” said Koppenhaver’s brother-in-law, Donald Ristenbatt, reached at his home in Lebanon.

Ristenbatt and his wife, Karen, have custody of the dog.

When Bandit was found, the Ristenbatts were contacted and wanted to give him a home but didn’t have the money to fly him back to Pennsylvania. Georgia Lynn, director of the Vicksburg-Warren Humane Society, stepped in and made a plea to the community to help.

The phones started ringing off the hook, Lynn said, and enough money was raised for shipping, a kennel, a health certificate and a night’s boarding fee at Vicksburg Animal Hospital.

&#8220I put him on the plane at 12:20 p.m. Saturday and (Karen Ristenbatt) called and said he arrived about 7,” Lynn said.

When they arrived home from the airport, Karen Ristenbatt said the dog headed straight for Koppenhaver’s room, hopped on the bed and went to sleep.

Koppenhaver acquired Bandit about five years ago, Karen Ristenbatt said, from two truck drivers he met in a town outside Las Vegas. The two were no longer able to care for the dog, so Koppenhaver took him in.

Bandit became his constant companion. Before Bandit though, Ristenbatt said, Koppenhaver had another traveling partner, a cocker spaniel named Pepper, who had become physically unable to handle life on the road.

Pepper, about 13 years old, has since retired and also lives with the Ristenbatts. The Ristenbatts also have two dogs of their own.

Bandit seems to have accepted the loss. When left behind in the past by Koppenhaver, the dog, his sister said, &#8220would go to the window and watch.”

Bandit hasn’t gone to the window since his return to Pennsylvania Saturday. &#8220It seems like he knows what happened to Rick,” she said.