Georgia family reunites with Yorkie in Fort Lauderdale after being apart for 6 years

    FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (WSVN) -- A Yorkie who went missing in South Florida was reunited with her loved ones after being separated for six years.

Rocsi was found when a good Samaritan in Pompano Beach called Broward County Animal Care once she appeared on their doorstep. An animal control officer was dispatched and scanned her, finding a microchip.

One of her owners, Kendrick Range, came to South Florida this weekend to pick up his dog. He spoke with 7News on Saturday.

“It’s been a long journey,” said Kendrick Range. “It was really unexpected, from the point that we lost her, and we did everything we could to try and find her up until this point.”

Rocsi, a 13-year-old Yorkie, disappeared from Kendrick and Jheannette Range’s Fort Lauderdale home when she was 7 years old.

“We put the kids down, put our stuff down, and then went back out, she was gone,” said Jheannette.

The Ranges relentlessly kept searching for the Yorkie.

“We walked around the streets, calling her name, putting up flyers. We did pretty much everything that we could do, and we just – we got no response,” said Jheannette.

The timing couldn’t have been worse. Two weeks later, the Range family had a scheduled move to Georgia.

They thought they would never see their sweet Rocsi again.

“We just kind of accepted the fact that we wouldn’t hear from her again,” said Jheannette.

An unexpected call from Broward County Animal Care granted them a miracle years later.

“There was a call about two abandoned dogs about a home in Pompano Beach,” said Doug Brightwell, the director of Broward County Animal Care. “The Pompano [Beach] animal control officer went out and scanned him, and found a microchip.”

The microchip traced back to the Range family. Brightwell sent pictures of the pup, and they confirmed that Rosci was their beloved pet.

“And we booked plane tickets immediately,” Jheannette said.

“It’s a much more uncommon occurrence to reunite a dog or a cat that has been lost after such a long number of years,” said Doug Brightwell.

Jheannette said it was a big loss.

“I definitely didn’t realize how sad I was about it until I heard that we got her back,” she said.

But now, this family is whole once again.

“It feels amazing,” said Kendrick. “Seeing her look at me and come to me, it just feels amazing.”

With their story, the Ranges hope others will be encouraged to microchip and register their pets.