Owner thought dog was killed 4 years ago. Pup was found in Texas cemetery — alive
A resilient dog in Texas is proving that miracles do happen when you least expect it after being reunited with his family — who assumed for years that he was dead.
So imagine the surprise of his owner after receiving a call from a Beaumont Animal Shelter, that his beloved pit bull Randy is not only alive and well, but was found running around a graveyard across the street from the shelter.
“After an already eventful day, the last thing we expected was to take in another dog,” the shelter said in a Oct. 1 Facebook post. “But the second we approached him, he wagged his tail, rolled over, and made it impossible not to scoop up this sweet boy.”
Thanks to the supreme power of a microchip, the shelter was able to track down his owner, Christian Gonzales.
Gonzalez “was completely stunned,” the shelter said. “He told us that he thought Randy had died nearly 5 years ago. For a few confusing moments, we were trying to convince him that Randy was alive and sitting right in front of us.”
Four years and nine months prior, a relative of the Gonzales family in Houston was watching over their two dogs as the family went out of town for a wedding, and Randy managed to play it a little too fast and loose with the rules and escaped the house, KHOU said.
The relative then spied a dead dog on an interstate nearby, and assumed the canine was Randy since both dogs had the same shading.
“Heartbroken, the Gonzales family believed they had lost him forever. They had two dogs at the time, Maggie and Randy, but after grieving Randy, they never brought another dog into their home. Maggie has been their only pup ever since,” the shelter said.
Somehow, Randy traveled about 80 miles from Houston and ended up in Beaumont where he was found in a cemetery, KHOU said.
The Gonzales family drove three hours to reunite with their long-lost dog, and the entire crew was overjoyed.
“Randy recognized them right away, his tail wagging furiously as he jumped into their arms. To make the reunion even sweeter, they brought Maggie along to welcome her long-lost buddy home,” the shelter said.
Other than some lost weight, Randy is doing well, KHOU reports.
“After so much time apart, Randy is finally back where he belongs with the family who never stopped loving him,” the shelter said.
Beaumont is about an 85-mile drive northeast from Houston.
This story was originally published October 3, 2025 at 11:55 AM with the headline "Owner thought dog was killed 4 years ago. Pup was found in Texas cemetery — alive."