A missing dog has been reunited with his Nebraska family five years after he vanished when he was finally found behind a truck stop more than 600 miles away.
Inmaculada Jackman said she was heartbroken when her dog, Chong, escaped from her Lincoln home in 2021 — but her family never gave up hope of finding him one day.
“I still looked for him,” Jackman told local WKRC. “We still went to our old neighborhood and drove around and looked to see if we could see anyone walking him or if he was running around somewhere.”
Five years later, the family’s prayers were answered when a friend sent Jackman a social media post that Chong had been found behind an Indiana truck stop about 642 miles away.
Jackman reached out to the Hendricks County Animal Shelter to claim her long-lost pup, but she learned that someone had microchipped Chong in the years that he was missing.
The staff awkwardly had to tell Jackman that they had contacted the person who microchipped the pooch to pick him up, but said that if the person failed to respond within three days, the shelter would be able to release him to his original family.
“They told me that they were all hoping and praying that the other people did not contact them,” Jackman recalled.
After the grace period passed without a response, Jackman was able to re-adopt her pup, who was warmly greeted by his owner and a new brother, Che Che, a dog the family had gotten after Chong went missing.
Heartwarming footage from the shelter shows the initial confusion Chong felt after being reunited with Jackman after five years, with the dog eventually cuddling with his owner and barking with joy.
Jackman said the family reunion should serve as a message of hope for all those who have lost their pets and are waiting for them to return.
“Never lose hope,” Jackman told WKRC. “It’s been five years and we found him.”
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