Family Reunited With Stolen Dog "Sheba" After 5 Years. "Like I Won $1 Million."
She was spotted more than 600 miles away from home.
A family whose dog has been missing for nearly five years was reunited with her this week, after she was located hundreds of miles away. KTRK reported on the surprising saga of Sheba, a German shepherd, who went missing from her owners in 2017. This week, the beloved dog's family received text messages that she had been found. "I was like, 'No way,'" said Stephanie Malmstrom of Baytown, Texas. "This is insane. Like I won $1 million and a cruise also." "We were all crying," Malstrom added. "Me and my girls were just boohooing." Read on to hear more about this incredible journey.
Mysteriously, Sheba wasn't found a few neighborhoods away—she was spotted more than 600 miles away in Borger, Texas, a town in the state's Panhandle. An animal control officer saw the dog on the street and noticed she was acting differently. "Her behavior just showed me this isn't the normal dog running loose," said Jared Harper, who doesn't know who had Sheba, or how she ended up so far away from home.
Sheba's family knows that she was stolen. Back in 2017, the family's home surveillance system captured dognappers swiping her from their yard, where she had been sleeping. "She runs from underneath the porch, they scoop her up, walk around the back side of the truck, load her up and take off," said Malmstrom.
Since finding the dog, Harper has shared photos and done video calls with Sheba's owners. The family hasn't been reunited yet, but they say that's days away. The Malmstroms are working with organizations to fly Sheba home. "We had steak night once a week," said Malmstrom. "Dad cooks the best steaks, so we already have steak night planned for when she gets home."
Sheba isn't the only beloved family dog who was reunited with her owners recently after being missing for years and presumed gone for good.
In February, a dog named Zoey was reunited with her California family after being missing for 12 years. The dog was abandoned in San Joaquin County and reported to authorities by a citizen who was concerned that she seemed old and ill. A police officer who responded discovered Zoey had a microchip and that she had been reported missing in 2010. "I definitely didn't expect this to ever happen so I'm really excited," said Zoey's owner Michelle. "She was in complete shock," the officer said. The dog had been missing since she was six months old.
In 2020, a Houston family was reunited with their Yorkie named Remington who had gone missing 14 years earlier. The pup simply vanished from the family's yard, and they had no idea what happened to him. "We know he was stolen. Maybe a hawk grabbed him, and he got away. We'll never know," said Aaron Webster, the dog's owner. Remy was found as a stray 60 miles away and reunited with the family by microchip. "If I could ask for anything, it would be to have 24 hours to talk to Remington about what happened in all that time," said Webster.
