Forty-one days after Clyde the beagle went missing on New York's Long Island, the beloved pet has been reunited with his owners, who were displaced by superstorm Sandy.
Christina Yevoli and her son Alfonso were staying with Yevoli's mother in Levittown after being flooded out of their Massapequa home during Sandy. Clyde jumped the fence Dec. 18 and never returned.
The 10-year-old mixed beagle-hound had jumped the fence once before in their old Massapequa house but came back within minutes. This time, because he was in a new home, he may have become disoriented, Yevoli told NBC 4 New York.
"After three or four days, I didn't think we would find him," Yevoli said. "I thought maybe someone took him in for themselves or worse -- that he got hit by a car. But I never gave up. I just kept going and going."
Yevoli posted missing dog posters and went to neighboring towns to do the same. But it was her Facebook page, Bring Clyde Home, that got the attention of people who could help.
Lisa Dwyer saw her page and joined in the search, enlisting the help of her cousin Denise May, a dog rescuer.
"When we think of scent, we think he's smelling for his owner," May said. "But each town has its own smell, the streets smell different. I think he was trying to find something familiar to him."
Once Clyde became lost, he may have tracked his way back to his familiar old home in Massapequa. A few days ago, a dog tracker was able to locate Clyde in the woods near the Southern State Parkway in North Massapequa, not far from his pre-Sandy home.
Forty-one days later, and 20 pounds lighter, he is now getting reacquainted with his family.
"I couldn't have done it by myself," Yevoli said. "People who I don't even know are still calling me. I can't believe the amount of people who have called me and cared about a dog."