Silvano Reyes was in bed when he first heard the voicemail from Riverside County Animal Services, notifying him that his long-lost Labrador retriever was alive.

“They found her!” Reyes recalls shouting to his family.

Chela, his 4-year-old dog, had been missing for three years after she wandered off after a July 4 celebration.

“I drove around like crazy around the area after she went missing,” he told animal services staff this week.

Reyes, a Metrolink mechanic and Riverside resident, put up flyers and checked online for weeks, to no avail. Still, he always believed Chela was alive.

On Tuesday, someone placed the dog inside one of the San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus night drop compartments. An employee scanned the dog’s microchip, embedded beneath its skin, and matched the dog with its rightful owner.

On Wednesday, May 4, the two were reunited at the San Jacinto shelter, where the dog appeared to recognize him immediately.

“I’m not going to lie, I cried,” Reyes told staff.

Chela’s unique name, a colloquial Spanish term for “beer me,” was given by Reyes’ brother.

The overweight pup appears to have been living the good life. Reyes, who told shelter employees “wow, she got fat,” plans to put his pooch on a diet.