In 2016, Michael Joy and his family were gearing up for a road trip when their three dogs managed to get loose. Although two of them returned, Sam, a Lab mix who was just four months old at the time, went missing. Joy searched tirelessly for his beloved dog, combing through his neighborhood in Georgia and checking local shelters, but to no avail. Undeterred, Joy refused to give up hope and continued to follow the shelters' pages even after his family relocated to Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He frequently traveled back to Georgia, hoping to find Sam. Fast forward almost five years later, Joy received an unexpected call from City Dogs Cleveland, who informed him that they had found Sam. Shocked and overjoyed, Joy made an eight-hour drive to Ohio to reunite with his long-lost pet.