A Chicago woman has been reunited with her dog two years after the pet initially went missing.
Cathy Martin spends her days working at Navy Pier and hanging out at her Kenwood home. She used to have two companions, her late husband Keith and her tiny, spunky and sweet Shih Tzu, Willow.
Keith passed away several years ago. She said after his death, she found comfort in Willow.
"She just gave me that peace," Martin said. "She’s just my everything. She was just like a child to me, and I took her everywhere with me.”
Her peace was stripped from her two years ago when Willow got loose from her yard.
"We just kept driving around, we couldn’t find her," Martin told NBC Chicago. "So we put up posters and everything.”
For months, she searched for her furry friend, wondering what happened to her beloved companion.
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"I never stopped loving her, and I never stopped thinking about her," she said.
But one March morning, two years later, a call came that reinvigorated what Martin always hoped.
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“District 9 [police] called me, and when he said her name I just was shocked...I just cried.," she said. “He said 'I will get your dog back to you.'”
Chicago police officers returned Willow to a teary-eyed Martin. The moment was caught on camera and posted to CPD's X account, formerly Twitter.
“It was just a moment," Martin said. "A happy moment.”
She says Willow was not matted, malnourished or in bad shape. Martin said someone recently found the dog near a gas station and turned her in to police.
Martin had Willow microchipped years ago, with the chip coming back to her name.
Now 10 years old, Willow finds herself right at home again in Martin's arms.
"I got her back, now my joy can start back again," she said.
So, where was Willow for the past two years?
"If dogs could talk! I would love to know," Martin said.
For now, only Willow knows her journey.
