The old saying that dogs are man’s best friend always proves itself right again and again.
When we adopt a dog, give it food and open our hearts to it, the bond that we create is often incredibly strong. While it’s obvious how much our animal companions love us when we’re around, it may be even more obvious when we get separated, whatever the reason for the separation may be.
In one mysterious story out of Tennessee, this was shown to be true yet again.
It all began when Kathy Wilkes Meyers saw something on the side of the highway.
Because Wilkes Meyers is a member of the Love Me Tender Animal Rescue group, she’s definitely no stranger to dealing with stray dogs. Still, something about this one seemed different. The animal in question was a Rottweiler who looked like it had been starving for some time. Based on the dog’s behavior, Wilkes Meyers thought that it wasn’t a stray. “I would just tell right away she was somebody’s baby,” she said. “She just didn’t act like a stray dog to me.”
With that in mind, she decided to take the dog in.
Although she was more than happy to care for the dog herself, Wilkes Meyers was still curious about where the dog came from.
To figure things out, she went back to the highway where she found the dog to look for clues. In the ditch, she saw some broken glass and a piece of a taillight—clear evidence of a recent car accident. As she thought back, she realized that she’d seen a car accident on the same stretch of highway about two weeks back. She walked further into the forest at the edge of the highway for more clues.
What she found there was enough to break her heart.
In the tall weeds, the dog had been gathering all kinds of personal items that belonged to her family.
All the things in the pile seemed to be things that came out of the car crash, all gathered in a pile to provide comfort. Clearly, the dog had been sitting patiently and hoping that her family would come back for her. “She was hoping her family would come back,” Wilkes Meyers said. “But they couldn’t.” Still, she went through the items in the pile and saw a candle with the name Michelle on it.
To get more answers, Wilkes Meyers called the highway patrol for more information.
Although she remembered the crash seeming too serious to have any survivors, Wilkes Meyers got some unexpected news.
As it turned out, the car had an entire family inside it when it crashed and all of them miraculously survived. To make things even better, the woman in the crash was named Michelle! Because the dog had been thrown so far from the crash, the team that showed up only rescued the family and left the poor animal behind.
With all the information she needed, Wilkes Meyers set about reuniting the dog with her family.
Needless to say, the family could not have been happier to see their sweet little baby.
The dog’s name was Ella and the reunion was just as sweet as anyone could imagine. The family in question were Joe and Michelle Kelly and their three children. When they were all reunited, Ella gave them all so many kisses—the family was finally back together again. “I didn’t think we were gonna make it out [of the accident],” Joe said. “I’m lucky to be sitting here with my family.”
Still, there was one more wrinkle in the reunion.
Because of the serious medical expenses from the accident, the family had to move into a temporary home where no dogs were allowed.
Fortunately, they had a solution. Because Ella had bonded so much with Wilkes Meyers in the meantime, she’d agreed to keep taking care of Ella for as long as they needed until they could get back in stable housing again. Although Ella definitely misses her mom and dad, Wilkes Meyers is making sure the two of them have as much fun as possible in the meantime.
Congratulations on the reunion and a special thanks to Kathy for her detective work!
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