WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — A cat and its owner have been reunited after a multi-state miracle.
A few weeks ago, Jamie McCall began driving from Florida to Michigan to move into a new home. She says along the way, she made rest stops. During a stop in Cleveland, Tennessee, McCall says her cat Tucker got out of their hotel room.
"Tucker got out of the room, ran across the highway, a four lane highway. I didn’t even know he was gone until I came back from the Waffle House," McCall said.
McCall says she spent hours looking for the 3-year-old cat and left out food and treats in an attempt to lure him back but had no luck. McCall says heartbroken, she had to resume her journey to Michigan.
"I just lost my husband a couple years ago to cancer and then my son was murdered at 21 years old," McCall said."Then I lose my friend on a motorcycle and my dad died. Then my brother died of a heart attack. So I’ve had all of that going on and this cat was my husband's companion cat."
McCall says when she got back home, she was devastated.
"I was so distraught about (the loss of my cat that) I contacted my friend Amanda and asked her do you think it would be worthwhile for us to search the shelters in Cleveland, Tennessee? She said, 'Jamie put it on Facebook,'" McCall said.
McCall says she made a post on Facebook. About a week later, she connected with a woman named Holly Lea who found the cat and had been caring for it. Lea says she and McCall were in contact for about six weeks as she arranged for her grandfather, who is a truck driver, to bring the cat to Michigan.
“My granddaughter found this kitty at her workplace and called me and said, I brought this cat home and a lady said that she lives in Michigan and would you please take this cat to Michigan. I told her I was out working and I had to finish my job, was driving entertainers and we were in the middle of the tour," said Hurricane Heathfield, the woman's grandfather. "I had one more tour and when I got back I said, okay time to go to Michigan before Christmas, so Tucker can get home for Christmas."
After several hundred miles, Tucker arrived back home Friday afternoon.
"That’s Tucker! That’s my baby," McCall said as she held her cat again in her driveway.
Along with the cat, Heathfield handed McCall a Christmas gift: a small red sleigh with tree trimmings inside.
"It’s Christmas time and with the way the world is, to see something like this, it warms my heart. I’m just very grateful," an emotional Heathfiled said.
McCall says it was the best Christmas present she could have received.
"I got my family back. This is my family," a tearful McCall said. "This is overwhelming. Good people, really good people. I mean, who would take in a cat and return it hundreds of miles away. It's just overwhelming for me."
