ROTHBURY, Mich. — On just about every sign post and intersection in Rothbury, Michigan, you'll see a sign that all say the same thing: Lost small white scruffy dog, missing since May 9.
While lost dog signs are fairly common, Patricia Day says her dog, Chase, is anything but that.
After weeks of waiting, Day says they finally got the ending they hoped for.
Chase was found wandering in a backyard around 3 to 4 miles south of their family home, near Fruitvale Road. The couple noticed him and "like lightning speed" grabbed a leash to catch him, Day said.
She called it "a real miracle."
"It's not just a dog. It is my family," Day said before he went missing. "It is my support. It is my best friend."
She says last Tuesday was supposed to be a normal day.
"We took him and my son's dog to the groomers," recalls Day.
The groomer is not even a mile down the road. Just after Day got back home, she got a message.
Chase had escaped through an open door, taking off into the woods before anyone could catch him.
"He is wearing a blue harness and dragging a blue leash," says Day.
Day has hardly slept since.
"I'm lost," she says. "I don't know what to do."
Losing the companion who's been by her side through traumatic events in the last year: her mother's death, her son's cancer diagnosis and learning she has multiple sclerosis.
"When I'm sick, when I'm hurt, when I'm scared, he's there," says Day. "He's my best friend. And he calms me down. And he makes me feel like things are going to be alright."
Since the day Chase went missing, she put out his favorite blanket and food in the backyard and visited places around town that people have spotted him.
She can now rest easy knowing he's home safe.
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