Bean's back, and all is well

Durham residents help pay reward for dog

DURHAM -- Bryan Proffitt and Rebecca Silver had begun to fear the worst.

The married couple's pit bull, Bean, had been missing for more than a week after being stolen from Proffitt's car Feb. 9.

"We were starting to grieve a little bit," Proffitt said.

"It's hard to keep hope going that long."

The work of countless volunteers who joined the search had yielded only false leads.

When Proffitt's phone rang Sunday afternoon, he thought it would be like the others: well-meaning but fruitless.

But this call was different. Bean, a 3-year-old female dog, was alive and well.

A man, whom Proffitt did not want to name, had scooped her up Friday by the Burger King at the intersection of Guess Road and Club Boulevard. The man's dog of 11 years had recently run away, and he had planned on taking in Bean.

But his nephew saw a flier Saturday offering a $1,000 reward for Bean's safe return.

Bean received a clean bill of health from a vet on Monday.

In one final act of the community spirit that Proffitt called "overwhelming," Durham residents pitched in to cover the $1,000 reward.

"I wouldn't have anticipated this kind of response, to be honest," Proffitt said.

"We're really grateful for all that everybody did. It says a lot about Durham."