Gone For 9 Months, Dog Reunited With Fairfield Family

FAIRFIELD, CT — What started as a relaxing oceanside vacation for the Fourth of July quickly turned sorrowful for Fairfield resident Elissa DeMaria and her family. DeMaria, her husband and their then six-month-old daughter had taken their Boston terrier, Fisher, along on vacation with them to Ocean City, Maryland.

They aren't sure if the fireworks scared Fisher off or if someone took him from the place where they were staying, but on July 4, 2020, Fisher was gone.

The family searched high and low but couldn't find him anywhere. They pleaded on social media for anyone who spied their little buddy to reach out to them. They offered a reward for his safe return with no questions asked. They contacted local veterinarians and shelters, hung fliers around town and joined lost pet Facebook pages. All to no avail.

DeMaria and her family stayed as long as they could in Ocean City until they had to return home to Fairfield without their beloved little buddy. A week passed, then a month. Then another month and yet another. Fisher missed holidays, his human sister attained baby milestones and his family desperately missed him.

Someone reached out to DeMaria through the Facebook page she had created to help find Fisher, sharing a screenshot of a found dog posting in a Facebook group DeMaria didn't belong to.

"From the moment I saw the photos, I knew it was him from the markings and his little tongue sticking out," she told Patch. "Many, many people shared it with us almost instantly and for that I'm eternally grateful. We are beyond thrilled."

Apparently, the people who found Fisher spied him wandering around their Baltimore neighborhood wearing a collar but no tags. They picked him and took him inside their home to care for him and posted his photo on Facebook, describing him as "friendly, sweet and playful."

"I will never be able to thank this family enough," DeMaria said.

After celebrating from Fairfield and experiencing an "adrenaline rush," DeMaria contacted the person who posted the found dog photo, verified it was Fisher by providing his microchip number, then begged family friends who lived in Maryland to pick him up from the person who found him so he was "with people we knew."

DeMaria threw together a travel bag then hit the highway. It took five hours to drive from Fairfield to the friend's home in Annapolis, but "it was worth every second."

Poor Fisher's paw is injured, but otherwise he is in good health. After 9.5 months, he definitely remembered his human mom and was ecstatic to see her again. Their reunion was simply beautiful.

"I can't wait to get him home to meet Nellie and see Louise and Matt," DeMaria said. "We all wish we could know what the last nine months were like for him, but we're just thrilled he's home safely."

DeMaria credited the power of social media for helping reunite her with her long-lost dog. Not once did she give up on Fisher.

"We couldn't have done this without the dedication of the Facebook group continuously sharing our posts for the past nine months and being diligent, kind and remaining hopeful that he'd come back to us," she said. "I said I wouldn't give up 'til he was home, and I'm so happy I didn't."

This story was written by Patch Maryland Field Editor Kristin Danley-Greiner.