Petey, the formerly missing Jack Russell terrier, is photographed at the Humane Society's Rochester Hill Center for Animal Care. Courtesy of the Michigan Humane Society.

ERIN, Tenn., Oct. 26 (UPI) -- The Tennessee owners of a dog that went missing in July said they were overjoyed and baffled when he turned up 600 miles away in Michigan.

Tyanne Morrison, 54, said her stepfather, Jim Arrighi, 73, had been searching for Petey the Jack Russell terrier since the dog disappeared from his Erin, Tenn., yard July 28 and he was delighted when a Michigan Humane Society volunteer called to say the dog had been found in Rochester Hills and traced back to him with an implanted microchip, the Detroit Free Press reported Wednesday.


"He's tickled to death," Morrison said. "We've hunted and hunted everywhere. He's had pictures put in the paper. We put posters up everywhere. We rode around on four wheelers in the area, so we knew he wasn't hit by a car."

No one knows how Petey made the 600-mile journey, but Morrison said Arrighi believes his wife, Juanita, 77, who died Oct. 12, helped guide Petey to the Humane Society.

"That's what he thinks -- he truly thinks that," Morrison said. "A lot of people think that. They think she was looking over him."

Humane Society volunteer Nancy Greiser agreed to drive Petey home.

"This story put a smile on the faces of our entire adoption center team," said Marcelena Mace, shelter manager at the MHS Rochester Hills Center for Animal Care. "It's wonderful when we see microchip reunions, including those that seem like miracles. It really proves that no matter how far your pet may travel, a microchip can help him find his way home!"