An Arlington family was reunited with their dog Wednesday evening, who had been missing in Minnesota for a month.
Since the Richardson family from Arlington began fostering Murphy in April, the two-year-old, min-pin, German Sheppard mix has lived in the lap of luxury.
“Murphy is our foster fail. He's going to be our forever dog, along with our other three dogs,” said Brooklyn Richardson.
Murphy even made the family trip to Minnesota in July.
But on a hike, Brooklyn said Murphy got spooked by other hikers, ripped the leash from her hands and ran into the woods.
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“I don't even go to the restroom without him. So when he ran away, it was just really hard,” she said tearfully.
The family posted signs across town so strangers joined the search.
But three days later, the Richardson's returned home empty-handed.
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Then last Friday, a month later, the phone rang.
“We will never think about Friday the 13th the same way again ever. The 13th is going to be a lucky day for our family now,” Brooklyn said.
Murphy had lost a third of his body weight and was seven miles from where he disappeared.
Brooklyn flew to Minnesota where she was reunited with Murphy.
“You could feel the tension in his body release once he realized, it all changed. It all came back to him,” Brooklyn said.
She also met the 78-year-old woman who spent an hour coaxing Murphy to safety on the side of a highway.
“I can never thank the community of Tofte, Minnesota enough,” she said.
Brooklyn and Murphy had to wait five days until he was cleared to fly.
They arrived back in North Texas on Wednesday night.
