Miley, sheltie

Dog Believed "Stolen" Reunited with Owner
By: Lauren Vargas, WKRG
Published: March 04, 2013

THEODORE, Alabama -- Lonnie Smith spent the weekend desperately searching for his best friend; a mini collie dog named Miley.

"Just an all-around good dog. You couldn't ask for a better dog," Smith cried. "I haven't been eating right, I haven't been sleeping. I've been worried sick, I don't know if she's okay."

Lonnie Smith adopted Miley about six years ago. They've been inseparable ever since.

"He's not been the same since it happened," said Smith's friend and neighbor Jennifer Fant. "He's been devastated. This is his child, it's not just a dog to him."

On Friday night, Lonnie Smith went inside the Circle K on Old Pascagoula Rd. and McDonald Rd. to buy a drink and some cigarettes. Like she always does, Miley waited outside the convenience store doors for her owner. But when Lonnie came back outside, his dog was gone.

The manager says the surveillance video shows two women taking the dog and driving off in a Lincoln town car. Lonnie Smith assumed she'd been stolen.

"I blame myself," said Smith. "I just never thought someone would steal a dog. I've never been through nothing like this."

But while we were shooting this story at the Circle K Monday morning, our "stolen dog" story took an unexpected twist. The women seen on the security cameras taking Miley showed up. They say they thought the dog was a stray.

"My daughter said, 'Mama can I take her home?' And I said sure, I'd rather see her go home with me than get hurt." The woman who found the dog did not want her name released.

So what started as a desperate search to find the dog thieves appears to have been a big misunderstanding, with a happy ending and reunion for Lonnie and Miley.

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Source: http://www2.wkrg.com/news/2013/mar/04/dog-believed-stolen-reunited-owner-ar-5727471/