There were moments after Cynthia Abercrombie's dog, Apollo, went missing last month that she feared he might not come home.

She put those fears to rest about 9 p.m. Friday when her Pyrenees mix, who was found 1,100 miles away from Jacksonville, came clambering out of a stranger's car to greet her.

It had been six weeks since she saw him last, and she was grateful to everyone who played a role in making sure Apollo got home safe.

"It's a big relief just having him back, knowing he's OK," an emotional Abercrombie said.

The dog, who she's had since he was just 6 months old, escaped from his enclosure Aug. 11.

A month later Abercrombie was overjoyed when she got a call saying her dog had been found. But tears of joy gave way to stunned silence once she heard where - about an hour outside of Boston in Swansea, Mass.

Abercrombie, who hasn't been to Massachusetts, has no idea how Apollo wound up there. She believes someone may have stolen him.

"When they told me where he was, I said, 'I don't even know how I'm going to get him back,' " said Abercrombie, who lives on a fixed income.

That's where Swansea animal control officer Lisa White and Mary Ellen House of East Coast Paws came into the picture.

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White found Apollo roaming about 1 a.m. Sept. 8 and located a microchip the following day. After speaking with Abercrombie, White contacted several volunteer groups via Facebook, looking for someone to take Apollo home.

"East Coast Paws immediately reached out and said, 'We can help and get him home," White said.

House said East Coast Paws is a volunteer transport service, which routinely rescues dogs from high-kill shelters in the South and brings them North to find homes.

In Apollo's case, House arranged for a relay of nearly two dozen drivers to drive an hour and hand Apollo off to the next volunteer starting about 8 a.m. Thursday. On Thursday night, she said he spent the night in Virginia with a volunteer to get some rest before hitting the road again.

Bill and Gail Towne took charge of the final leg, bringing Apollo from Folkston, Ga., to Jacksonville about 9 p.m. "He just laid and slept," Gail Towne said.

The Townes, who have been working with East Coast Paws, said it's gratifying getting to meet new people and reunite them with their missing pets.

"It just makes all the miles and late nights and everything worthwhile," Bill Towne said.

White said Apollo's story underscores the importance of getting pets microchipped and making sure their chips are registered and the information is current.

Garrett Pelican: (904) 359-4385