Dog reunited with family after 1200-mile East Coast adventure

BOSTON, MA (KTRK) -- Three weeks after she went missing, a Massachusetts man has been reunited with his lost dog after she was found more than a thousand miles away from home.

Ken Swisher says Missy seemingly vanished out of thin air.

"We called all the kennels, rescue places, veterinarians, we called everybody around," Swisher says. "We honestly didn't know what happened to her."

Swisher says he hoped to find out she was alright. And then, the phone rang last week.

"She said, 'I got a strange question to ask you,'" Swisher says. "'Do you have a dog gone?' I said yes. She said, 'Well, she's in New Hampshire.'"

A New Hampshire man had brought Missy to a local animal shelter some 1,200 miles away from Swisher's home after picking up the dog in Illinois. The shelter scanned the dog for a microchip and got a hit. That is when they called Missy's owners.

With a 19-hour drive, Swisher and his wife were reunited with their beloved pet. The couple says the journey was worth it.

Maureen Prendergast of Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire, where Missy was taken, says the happy ending highlights the importance of microchipping your pets.