The men who worked with him clearing storm debris and traveled with him
from the Florida Keys described him as a big-hearted jack-of-all
trades, but knew nothing of his past.

The Harris County Medical Examiner's Office was also having a tough
time finding relatives, and Emery was to be buried as a pauper if no
one claimed his body.

In so many ways, the 54-year-old Emery's loner life was playing out
like lyrics for the blues songs he loved so much. He'd even recently
been kicked out of a rundown trailer.

But his death rallied animal lovers in Houston and elsewhere, who fell
in love with the man they never met.

They vowed to ensure he receive a proper burial, and that his attempt
to save the dogs would not be forgotten.

"Girl, he died a hero with tons of people loving him," Kellye Nagata
eventually wrote to Alaina Emery, whom she tracked down on the
Internet.

Emery said she had unsuccessfully searched phone books, the Internet
and even appealed to a television show as recently as last week for
help finding her father.

She recalled Tuesday how she had wanted her dad to see her as an adult
and to recover lost time.

"I am very saddened that I could not find him in life, but somehow he
found me in death," Emery told the Houston Chronicle by phone. "I
wanted to hug him, to meet my son."

Alaina said that while she had long wanted to be reunited with her
father and thought of him every day, she knew there was a chance she'd
find him deceased.

Although he was recalled by Emery as well as her mother, Colleen
Schultheis, as having done many good things, Bob Emery had also battled
a drug problem that destroyed two marriages as well as his career as a
construction worker.

He had two other children, and authorities were still trying to
determine if he was still married at the time of his death.

Through all his ups and downs, Schultheis, who graduated from the same
high school class as Emery in Pittsburgh and was his first wife,
described him as a smart, kind person.

She said she wasn't shocked to learn he'd lost his life, hit by a
passing motorcycle, while trying to save the dogs, as he'd had the
four-legged pets for much of his life.

As word of Emery's death spread, dozens of people as well as businesses
lined up to help.

There have been offers to donate a casket as well as a burial plot,
flowers and ministerial services.

Nagata, who has quietly taken up people-searching as a hobby, said she
wishes she'd known about Alaina Emery's search earlier, as perhaps she
could have helped her find Emery while he was still alive.

"I was adopted, so I used to search for my birth parents," Nagata said.
"I got really good at searching."