A sheep who stayed on the lam in Warner Parks for more than three weeks was found safe Thursday afternoon by a Metro Parks maintenance crew.

The ewe, owned by Strawberry Plains farmers Phil and Daphne Lakin, escaped the flock during a sheepdog demonstration on Sept. 9. Phil Lakin, who often performs such demonstrations with trained sheep and sheepdogs, was involved in the annual Middle Tennessee Highland Games and Celtic Festival at Percy Warner Park that weekend.

"I am so happy for all the residents of Bellevue, they honestly put their hearts and their souls into the three-week search ordeal. Hats off to Bellevue," Lakin said Thursday. "More than I can put into words, so grateful for the outcome."

An affectionate following of nearby Bellevue residents nicknamed the female sheep "Belle-Ewe" and organized spotters and searches over the past month in the hope of keeping her out of serious trouble.

A post shared in the eponymous Facebook group celebrating her capture had dozens of reactions, comments and shares within 10 minutes of its posting.

Belle-Ewe was found around 1 p.m. Thursday as she was "leisurely walking down one of the closed roads" in the park, Metro Parks and Recreation spokesperson Jackie Jones said in an email.

"The maintenance crew was able to wrangle the ewe into a truck and take her immediately to one of the barns for safety," Jones said.

The next step for Metro was to contact a local animal rescue group to make accommodations for Belle-Ewe. Lakin was not positive Thursday afternoon when he would be able to pick her up, but expected to make an appearance, Belle-ewe in tow, at the Bellevue Historic Day Red Caboose Playground on Oct. 12.

How Belle-ewe got lost

In social media posts, Phil Lakin explained the sheep had escaped while he attempted to herd her in with the help of a younger dog.

Lil, a 14-month-old Welsh sheepdog, had only been a part of Lakin's farm for about a week before the demonstration on Saturday.

"He was hoping she'd be a little farther along in her training, but she wasn't," Daphne Lakin, Phil's wife, said in September.

Lil had only just been brought over from Wales recently and had not had much time to train with the family or the sheep. The family used to do similar demonstrations with an older dog, Kelso, but Daphne Lakin said he had become too deaf as he got older to hear commands in a similar event.

On the day Belle-ewe got lost, Mark Hunter, who was present at the games that afternoon, reported that the young dog Lakin was using in that demonstration was "not quite up to snuff."

"The sheep is gone and the dog is chasing him followed by the farmer followed by crowds of kilted rednecks. Men in kilts are diving into the brush trying to grab the sheep," Hunter shared in a Facebook post about the chaotic scene that he shared with The Tennessean on Wednesday.

"I tell you there were hordes of kilted folk running through that brush. At one point the ewe, the puppy and Phil all came running back, but they were on the outside of the fence, between the Games grounds and the highway," he wrote.

"The sheep got her horn stuck in the fencing, and we almost had her. But, she doubled down through the grounds and out the other side heading into Percy Warner Park. It is very thickety in there."

Hunter has been to numerous sheep dog trials over the years, he said.

"Competitions are dicey because if the sheep don't know the dog, and the dogs don't know the sheep, there can be considerable frustration," he said. "Phil had a newish young dog, and that may be a dodgy sheep."

Sheep sightings abound

The Hip Bellevue Facebook group exploded with sightings and comments after the sheep was reported missing and a breakout group pulled in more than 1,500 members as the search went on.

Robyn Menotti, an Athens, Alabama, resident who happened to capture video of Belle-Ewe's daring escape, said she found the group's focus inspiring.

"Bellevue has exemplified showing love for their neighbor and it has just warmed my heart to see them pull together to rescue Belle," she said. She and her family visited the Highland Games in honor of their Scottish ancestry, she said.

The sheep, a Scottish Blackface, is one of a herd of approximately 40 at the Lakins' working farm near Johnson City. The couple will show them at similar games, museums and other events, and sometimes sell their wool or slaughter them for meat.

"They're used to being in groups. I can hear the ram baa-ing here because he misses the ewes," Daphne Lakin said on Wednesday evening as the search continued.

This is not the first time the Lakins have lost track of a sheep after an event, she said.

"This is the fourth time. Two we got back. One we didn't, but I heard of someone buying a similar-looking ewe, and I've always wondered," she said.

The Lakins hoped to wrangle the ewe for her own safety and to hopefully avoid her involvement in any traffic accidents or run-ins with people.

Reach reporter Mariah Timms at mtimms@tennessean.com or 615-259-8344 and on Twitter @MariahTimms.