A touching story of a dog reunited after 5 years is melting hearts across the country. Debbie LaFleur of Lake Charles, Louisiana, never imagined she’d see her beloved Yorkshire Terrier, Kingston, again after Hurricane Laura tore through her hometown in August 2020.
LaFleur told USA Today that Kingston had been part of their family for six years before the storm hit. “He was our baby, our companion,” she shared.
Though their house remained standing after the hurricane, a shattered window revealed that Kingston had vanished. “We searched every street, and even social media helped — but deep down, we felt he was gone,” she recalled.
Dog reunited after 5 years thanks to frat house discovery
Fast forward to March, and LaFleur received an unexpected email from PetLink, a GPS pet tracking service — Kingston had been found.
The 11-year-old Yorkie had turned up at the Kappa Sigma fraternity house at the University of Southern Mississippi. While no one knows where he had been all those years, fraternity brothers took him in for a week, calling him “Benji.”
Kappa Sigma President Neal Rachal said Kingston was treated like one of their own, joining them at softball games and Walmart runs. The mystery unraveled when Vice President John Christopher brought the pup to the vet and discovered his microchip.
“I walked in and John said, ‘He’s Kingston.’ I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’” Rachal laughed. “But he was right — Benji was Kingston, the dog reunited after 5 years.”
When LaFleur arrived to pick him up, she was overwhelmed with emotion. “I called out, ‘Kingston, come to Mommy,’ and he ran straight to me. It was the most beautiful moment.”
Now back home in Lake Charles, Kingston has settled in with a new little brother — a 3-year-old Shih Tzu named Cooper.
“I feel like a part of my husband is home again,” said LaFleur, whose late husband Joseph passed away in 2022. “Kingston was his best friend.”
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Source: www.people.com
