They went to the side of Sherman Avenue out of curiosity and became heroes.

Blackie and Spottie, two dogs owned by Sherman Avenue resident Willie Green, are responsible for helping rescue a woman whose car left Sherman Avenue and went down a ravine early Friday morning.

According to Warren County sheriff’s office reports, Corrine Palmer, 76, had been reported missing about 7:22 a.m. by her family after she failed to show up for a 6 a.m. appointment, Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace said.

Palmer, who lives on Greenview Drive, had just left her home early Friday morning and was eastbound in Sherman Avenue when she failed to negotiate a curve and her Chevrolet Trailblazer fell down the 40-foot ravine, landing front end first and then flipping over. Palmer got out of her SUV, but was unable to scale the side of the ravine and get out.

Her cries for help attracted Blackie and Spottie and a third dog, who walked to the side of the road and began looking at Palmer.

About 1 p.m., Vicksburg Police Lt. Johnnie Edwards, who was traveling on Sherman Avenue looking for Palmer, saw the dogs looking down the side of the ravine, stopped his car, got out and saw Palmer by her car.

He said it was the position in which the dogs were standing that made him stop. He said the dogs “were standing in a V-formation, like an arrow, and they were standing like statues, looking out over the ravine. I had just seen them earlier, and they had been walking on the street. When I got out, Mrs. Palmer called for help.”

After reporting finding Palmer, Edwards saw sheriff’s deputy Zach Primeaux, who was also looking for Palmer, and flagged him down. Primeaux climbed down the edge of the ravine to check on her.

Warren County and Vicksburg firefighters and paramedics were called to the scene and got Palmer out of the area. She was taken to Merit Health Central Mississippi in Jackson, where she was treated for exposure. Pace said family members reported Palmer was doing fine.

Green said he did not hear Palmer crash after leaving the road.

“We were asleep; we didn’t know it happened,” he said, adding he was surprised to see the emergency vehicles in front of his home.

As for Blackie and Spottie, “They got a special treat,” Green said.