Nearly 2 Year Search for Cat Has Happy, Tearful Reunion

A beloved cat missing for a year and a half and once feared to be eaten by a coyote was found, leaving the cat’s owner overcome with emotion.

Diego, a cat who spent 12 years with his owner before going missing, disappeared mysteriously in June 2015.

Diego’s owner Iris Samaniego looked and looked, and he was nowhere to be found, feared dead.

Something told her to check the Animal Friends of the Valley shelter in Wildomar Thursday, still determined to find him a year and a half after he went missing.

She spotted a cat that looked like Diego, and thought it couldn’t be. Once she got a closer look – she knew.

She burst into tears while holding her beloved kitty once on the lam, and was excited to share the news with her family of his return.

She also said the shelter took great care of Diego.

The owner’s sister said if anything their story is a testament to never giving up on finding your lost pets.

It turned out to be the best Christmas present she’d ever received.

Photo Credit: Iris Samaniego