Hours after a Chicago woman's vehicle was taken with her two dogs inside, she finally received the news she had been waiting for.
Kayla Ward learned her beloved pets, a Maltipoo named Karmen and a Shih Tzu mix named Franklin, had been found safe. Both dogs were inside Ward's SUV when it was Thursday afternoon near Wells and Huron in the city's River North neighborhood.
The car was running but locked. In just a matter of seconds, a suspect managed to climb through the roof and took off.
"I immediately panicked," Ward told NBC 5. "I started screaming. People started calling the police for me. We started looking. I took off running after the vehicle. It was just a lot of panic and tear shed."
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Later that night, the dogs were spotted in the city's Auburn Gresham neighborhood, which is approximately 14 miles away. It's still a mystery as to how they ended up there.
Sisters Brooklyn and Jordan found the dogs and kept them safe at their house overnight until they could be reunited with their rightful owner.
"We really took them in until my sister found out whose dog it was," Brooklyn said. "She knew it was someone else’s dog, and we couldn’t keep them forever. She said we could keep them just until she found out whose dog it was."
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Though they had hoped to maybe keep the pair of pups, the sisters are thankful the dogs are safe.
Ward's vehicle is still missing. While its replaceable, her two furry family members are not.
"Thank God for the goodness of people and thankfully we have a happy ending to this story," Ward said.
