Family’s dog returns after being missing for 41/2 years

Associated Press

MANSFIELD

An Ohio family’s dog that has been missing for more than four years is finally back home.

On Christmas Day in 2009, Angel, a German shepherd, wandered away from her Mansfield home in northern Ohio after the wind blew open the front door.

Her owners, the Sinnett-Dekrell family, roamed the streets, posted fliers offering a reward and spread the word on Facebook.

Maggie Sinnett said the family eventually lost hope.

“You go looking everywhere, but you don’t know where to look,” Sinnett told the Mansfield News Journal.

“You feel lost. You feel hopeless,” she said.

That’s why Sinnett was shocked to get a call last week with the news that Angel had been found, almost 41/2 years to the day since she went missing.

The Richland County dog warden told Sinnett that he had found Angel on a local street and that a microchip implanted inside her allowed him to find her family.

Angel was wearing a collar, leading Sinnett to believe that Angel was living with a different family for some time.

Sinnett said that although she was a bit upset that someone kept her dog for so long, she appreciated that they were kind enough to keep Angel healthy.

“She was like my child,” Sinnett said. “She was obviously very well loved, and we are very thankful for that.”

Sinnett and her family rescued the then 6-month-old Angel from the pound nearly nine years ago as a present for then 7-year-old Andrew Dekrell.

Andrew turned 16 last Wednesday, the same day the family got to pick Angel up from the dog warden.

“[Angel] is back in our lives for a reason, and I do believe that,” Sinnett said. “I don’t know what God’s plan is, but she’s here now, and we’re all thankful.”