Service dog, veteran reunited after car stolen at gas station

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WXIN/STORYFUL) - After being stolen and missing for 24 hours, a dog and his veteran owner have been reunited.

A dog lost in the city sounds like a headline of a fairy tale, but it was more like a nightmare for Marine veteran Lanasu Withner and her husband, Tim.

Wrigley is her service dog. Shortly after returning home, he was still starving from spending the night on city streets.

“He’s getting some steak in his food tonight,” Lanasu laughed.

The pooch went missing after a thief hopped into their car at a gas station on the south side of Indianapolis. The couple and their dog were on their way to a new home in Florida. They were just passing through.

The vehicle was later found at a Walgreens on the east side with no sign of Wrigley.

But a day later, they got a break in the form of a surveillance photo.

“We were pretty convinced it was him on the surveillance camera even though it was grainy,” Tim said.

A clerk spotted him trying to get in his store.

Then a detective spied him in the grass.

“I can’t tell you how many of the Indianapolis Police Department came in off duty!” Tim said.

They used drones, other K9s, neighbors, and finally, Tim threw out his old shirt.

“Wrigley was flipping the shirt and laying back down on it he knew it was his,” Tim said. “She said something in the background he looked around the corner saw us and immediately came to us.”

Wrigley is home for good with a story to tell. The tale of his long night on the town.

“You don’t hear good endings very often, so this is one for the record book,” Lanasu said.