Missing Naperville Pooch Reunited With His Family

Tucker, , was reunited with his family on Thursday evening.

The “Chipin”—a Chihuahua-miniature Pinscher mix—slipped away from a relative in Oak Lawn who was caring for him and the family’s other dog, Rex, around 5 p.m. Wednesday, while the family was spending the day at Great America and camping.

Angel Szuta-Boerema’s sister-in-law, Nancy Boerema, posted a message on Oak Lawn Patch’s Facebook page asking for help in finding Tucker.

we immediately sprang into action and called Angel who gave us the details. Oak Lawn Patch sent out a breaking-news alert to Patchland. We also notified our sister Patch site in Naperville.

Angel was surprised to see such a long story about Tucker on the Patch.

“My friend said, ‘did you see he was on the front page,’” Angel said. “It was awesome. If you ever lose a dog, try the Patch.”

Within moments of our breaking news alert, Angel received a phone call while waiting for the Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge to open. A girl named Caitlin called to say the dog was at a friend’s house. Apparently, the friend had brought Tucker by last night.

“The girl’s mom saw the update on her phone,” Angel said. “She recognized the dog as the one that was brought over to her house last night, and told Caitlin to call me.”

Angel has five children ages 6 to 16. She said her 10-year-old son was devastated when told that Tucker was lost.

Tucker’s paws are sore from his “day off” in Oak Lawn. While he was happy to see his family, he’s exhausted.

“I didn’t know anything about Patch until my sister-in-law told me about it,” Angel said. “We wouldn’t have found him if it wasn’t for Patch. Thanks so much for your help.”

Now that Angel has Tucker back, the first thing she's going to do is have him mircro-chipped.

Patch sends out a big thank-you to Maria Fuit and her daughter, Caitlin, for their help in bringing Tucker home.