(12/25/19) - One mid-Michigan native is desperately searching for her dog, but this isn't just any dog. He's a therapy dog with a university police department in Maryland.
It was a Christmas surprise gone wrong.
A University of Maryland Baltimore police chief, Alice Cary, was at the airport picking up her son to surprise his grandma, but instead, she got a surprise herself, losing her comfort canine in the process. Now, she's just praying for a Christmas miracle.
"We typically spend a lot of time apart because of where we live. Michigan is still home, even though I've been gone twenty years plus, but it's the nucleus so to speak, so everyone can come together and we can spend a little bit of time and enjoy each other's company before we get off onto our lives again," Cary said.
It was supposed to be a joyous time on Christmas Eve. Cary was visiting her mother in Owosso, and she had some "shopping" to do, heading to the airport to pick up her son and daughter-in-law who live in Colorado Springs.
Then, around 4:30 in the afternoon, things took a turn for the worse.
"My sister had arrived with a handful of Christmas packages at my mother's house, she opened the door, and Archie, who was sound asleep earlier, ran straight out the door, and we haven't seen him since," Cary said.
Archie isn't your ordinary dog. He's a rescue dog out of the Bahamas and a survivor of Hurricane Dorian and as recent as mid-December, a therapy dog for the University of Maryland Baltimore.
"It's very important for the future of this dog and what he can do for the students, faculty, and staff at the University of Maryland Baltimore. This dog is special, and so he'd make a lot of people happy upon his return," Cary said.
Right now, her concern for his safety is tugging at her heart. If he's cold, hungry, or tangled up, but she has good reason to stay optimistic.
"He's a young dog. He's been through so much in his short period of time in his life. He's a survivor and until proven otherwise, he's going to continue to be that, and hopefully he'll return," Cary said.
Chief Cary says a woman spotted him at Hintz Road and Cronk Road running eastbound through the fields.
If you see him, please report his location to Shiawassee County Dispatch.