Daughter of man who died unexpectedly on vacation reunited with missing dog
By Darla Miles
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ROSELLE PARK, New Jersey (WABC) — A 9-year-old girl in New Jersey grieving the sudden loss of her father has been reunited with the dog he gave her after the pet sitter caring for him could not be reached.
“My heart dropped finding out what happened, finding out that his family was worried sick about wondering where Major was,” said pet sitter Grace Reyes.
On Wednesday, Major trotted into the Roselle Park Police Department – almost like he knew he was going to be reunited with his family.
The 2-year-old cockapoo was a birthday gift from a father to his daughter – and had been in total limbo with his pet sitter since Friday.
“He was supposed to be picked up on Friday and so the messages stopped going through on Thursday and I started getting worried,” Reyes said. “Because he never goes that long without texting me.”
Major’s owner died unexpectedly last week on vacation abroad. His family spoke exclusively to Eyewitness News on Monday – desperate to find the pet sitter.
“On Tuesday morning, my aunt calls me with this anxiety,” Reyes said. “And she sends me this post of Major and she says, ‘isn’t this the dog that you take care of all the time, Major?'”
At the same time, Reyes had been searching social media to find his family.
“Thanks to Eyewitness News and other friends and family that blasted this all over social media, they were able to locate where Major actually was,” Officer Vincent Picarelli said.
Roselle Park police received a call from Reyes’ aunt.
“We have Officer Picarelli and I told him yesterday we have to this young puppy for this 9-year-old daughter,” said Roselle Park Chief Dominick Frino. “He told me ‘Chief, don’t worry about it’ and he said ‘I’ll have this dog for you by the end of the day.'”
And he did. On Wednesday, Major went home to his 9-year-old owner who is already dealing with the loss of her father – but now doesn’t have to also deal with the loss of her dog.
“I’m a father of two daughters and this just broke my heart when I heard this story,” Frino said.
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