Midnight Rescue

In 2024 we bought Abby, and she brought me so much joy and I felt I had a part of my son with me again. I named her Abby as that was my son’s dog. She was indeed my sweet Angel, and I felt like I lost Joshua all over again when we lost Abby.

This story involves Faith, Hope and Angels as a gift from God.

It all begins with a phone call John, and I received. We were out to dinner with friends on June 23 at around 5:30 PM. We were informed our 4 dogs had escaped our fenced yard and were running around the neighborhood. We have 4 dogs: Attie Mae (hound), Tony (Westie), Gibbs (small yorkie) and Abby (25 lb. yorkie poo). The neighbors were able to wrangle the 3 oldest dogs into the back yard, but our youngest year-old Abby took off.

We hurried home and jumped on our golf cart and started searching for her in our neighborhood and proximity to it. Abby is a runner and thinks it is fun to play keep away from you! We had volunteers also looking and we searched until dark, when a bad storm rolled in. I was heartbroken, our baby girl was lost and in a storm. We sat in chairs watching from inside our garage not knowing how we would be able to rest with our baby girl lost in the storm.
I immediately contacted the www.IDtag.com hotline to report Abby lost and gave them all the pertinent information. They said that an alert would be sent to all local shelters and vets in the surrounding area. If anyone found her, they could take her in and the vet etc. would scan her and determine her owner’s information. (However, we later realized that only works if someone could catch and bring her in!)

We posted a picture and the details of her disappearance on Facebook and all the lost dog sites we could find. We contacted all our friends and neighbors to pray for her safe return. John and I held hands as we prayed that our poor baby would return home safely.
June 24th The morning after Abby’s disappearance I was contacted by Susan Morton. She identified herself as someone who worked with PetFBI and had experience in recovering lost pets. She offered her assistance in creating and posting signs in the surrounding area. I welcomed her help and felt calmer knowing we had an “expert” assisting in recovery our sweet angel Abby. God answered our prayers and sent help to us in our time of need.
The last sighting of Abby was at 6:30 p.m. on the night of June 23rd. Thursday, July 3, 2025 2 Abby is Lost

On the day of June 24th, we continued our search in between intermittent rain. In the afternoon of the 24th Susan and her husband were searching for Abby in the field behind our neighborhood with binoculars. They thought they saw something. John and I crossed the overgrown field in the golf cart and made it to the other side. Searching behind the houses in Crimson Ridge neighborhood yielded no results. Disappointed and saddened by our unsuccessfulness we returned home. It was now 24 hours since Abby disappeared.
Susan suggested putting food and water and her toys outside close to our home so maybe it would lure Abby back home. We put her dog crate and her belongings at the edge of the garage and left the door up all night with the light on.

Jun 25th and 26th we rode around the neighborhood in the golf cart squeaking her favorite toy in hopes she would hear it and come running.

We knocked on doors and asked people on the street if they had seen Abby.
June 27, 28, 29 and 30th came and went with no sighting or any hope of bringing her back home. We prayed that she would be safe and happy wherever she was.

Some background information on why we bought Abby a year ago last summer. We lost our oldest son Joshua in July of 2022 to a tragic accident. Since that time survival and living life became difficult but with friends and family and my faith, I was able to go on. August    17th is Joshua’s birthday. Last year in 2024 we bought Abby, and she brought me so much joy and I felt I had a part of my son with me again. I named her Abby as that was my son’s dog. She was indeed my sweet “Angel” and I felt like I lost Joshua all over again when we lost Abby. The emotions were overwhelming and my faith in God and his will for my life sustained me during this trial.

On Tuesday July 1st we received an encouraging phone call from a young man saying he spotted Abby in the field the day before while riding his bike. He felt positive it was her like he had seen on the poster in the neighborhood. John and I immediately drove to the field and walked on foot to the highest point in the open field…a hill in the middle. From there Thursday, July 3, 2025 3 Abby is Lost

We searched with binoculars. And “praise Jesus” John made eye contact with Abby from his binoculars. He walked to where he saw her but again, she disappeared into the heavy thicket. I questioned whether he really did see her, and he said unwaveringly “YES” I saw her. It was hot and began to rain heavily about that time, so our search was ended abruptly for the time being. We vowed to return as soon as the rain subsided. We contacted our friend Susan and gave her the details of what happened.

We met up after the rain on the dead end at Woodrow Lane. Susan, Bill, John and I scanned the tree line with our binoculars and low and behold we saw Abby sitting at the edge of the woods as “big as day”. We could not believe our eyes as we slowly approached her on foot. She remained in our sight for a good 5 minutes before disappearing into the wooded area again. Now we had Hope for the first time in over 7 days. We walked the area squeaking her favorite toy and John went home and brought the dogs. We thought the noise would draw her out, but it was not working.
Susan said Abby is scared and untrusting of anyone after being gone for over 7 days outside alone. Susan and her husband began to put the cage together and set up a field camera inside the cage. They doused it with liquid smoke and tuna and placed chicken meat balls and food inside the cage. She said it should attract Abby and hopefully not other wild animals like raccoons or opossums. By then it was dark, and Susan said we just must go home and wait. She said if the cage is tripped it would alert her phone. So, we went home to wait.

At midnight on July 2nd, we received the most amazing phone call ever to say, “We got her”!! We hurried to meet them at the location where the cage was placed. Abby was wet and shivering and did not recognize us. We loaded the cage into the back of the truck and drove home. Leaving her in the cage she was lifted from the bed of the truck into the garage. We closed the door to secure her inside. We then opened the door and she began wagging her tail as she now recognized us and knew she was home safe. Our baby Angel was at home at last.

I felt compelled to write this story to let people know that God is here and him returning Abby back home after 8 days was a true miracle and one that you cannot deny.

God Bless you,
John and Debbie Scola.