Houston family finds community in Bullard after a Thanksgiving miracle

Published 5:45 am Wednesday, December 11, 2024

A Thanksgiving trip to visit family took an unexpected turn for a Houston family when a beloved service dog named Tucker disappeared into the unfamiliar woods of East Texas.

“I was such a wreck the entire time … because I don’t know where he is and he doesn’t know where he is,” said Melissa Wimberley, Tucker’s owner who was visiting the Pineywoods from Katy.

Wimberley brought her teenage daughters and Tucker to a pet-friendly Airbnb at the lake on Cedar Bay Drive in Bullard on Nov. 26 for a planned Thanksgiving gathering with family. The day of the holiday, the group left for Whitehouse — where Wimberley’s brother lived — leaving Tucker with a family friend who checked on him.

“Something happened to where he got out that evening,” Wimberley said. “I don’t know if she accidentally left the gate open but he got out and she called me, frantically. I drove over as quickly as I could back to Bullard.”

Tucker, a black lab, was adopted from a shelter about a year and a half ago and had served as an emotional support animal for one of Wimberley’s twin girls.

“He had never left her side or my side… and I think he left to find us,” Wimberley said.

When they arrived back at the Airbnb, they immediately began the search, calling out his name and navigating through the cold and dark. Wimberley stopped at a neighbor’s house to see if they had seen him, which they had not but offered to post a photo and information in a community group online.

“Apparently, word spread very quickly, it was all over Facebook groups within Bullard,” Wimberley said. “I posted (online) and everyone was really aware to look out for Tucker, but no one had seen them since that night.”

People were also pitching in and helping create fliers, which were posted all over town on lampposts, bulletin boards and shop windows. Also helping was a security guard in Eagles Bluff, who offered prayer and comforting conversations throughout the search.

“These are people I’ve never met,” Wimberley said. “I was a stranger and… they came out of nowhere to help me find my dog.”

By Friday morning, Wimberley was reaching out to Tyler Drone Services to see if they could pick up an aerial view of Tucker; unfortunately, the owner was vacationing in Katy for the holiday but advised getting in touch with the game warden.

“It’s the Friday after Thanksgiving and I was sure no one was going to be there but I left a message for Game Warden Chris (Swift) and he called me right back,” Wimberley said.

He told her game wardens don’t normally search for dogs but he would get in touch with landowners with game cams to keep an eye out for Tucker.

On Friday, Wimberley and her family had to vacate Airbnb because there was another guest coming; however, the neighbor offered her an Airbnb that was in the same street for as long as they needed.

Later that evening Swift called Wimberley with a break. “He said ‘I want you to know that he’s alive … we’ve caught him on a wildlife camera,’” she said.

“I contacted the Cherokee County Game Warden because I knew he was good friends with the landowners in the area of where Tucker had gone,” Swift said. “I had multiple game cam pictures of Tucker from the landowner… they had Tucker all over the place, and that’s when I called her and told her that Tucker was still alive and that he was close.”

The beloved lab was spotted nearly 3 miles from the original Airbnb. “It is up and down quite a number of hills, through the golf course,” Wimberley said. “We don’t know how he got there.”

The landowner invited the family to their 80 acres of property that Saturday to continue their search for Tucker, even utilizing a four wheeler. With no luck still, they think he’s moved on.

“I’m a Christian, but I don’t pray, like … really pray,” Wimberley said. “But Sunday morning, I got on my knees and I prayed. I prayed like I’ve never prayed before. I can’t explain the feeling, but I prayed to lead me to Tucker and I kept saying it.”

She goes back to scouring the neighborhood and then instinctively heads to County Road 3606 in her car.

“I’m praying the entire time: ‘lead me to Tucker, lead me to Tucker,’” Wimberley said.

Then she spots Tucker walking out of the forest, alone and looking lost. Not wanting to frighten him, she quietly calls out his name and then opens the car door to greet him and wraps her arms around him.

“I put him in my van and called my girls and said ‘I got him, I got him,” Wimberley said. “They cried, we cried… we were then focused on making sure he’s OK and that he was warm.”

Swift was happy to see Tucker be reunited with his family.

“I’m glad it had a happy ending because a lot of times it doesn’t,” Swift said. “As game wardens, we’re involved with the community — we live here, our kids go to school here, we know landowners. With it being hunting season and many people having cameras nowadays, we got lucky and got some great photos of spotting Tucker running around. I’m glad it worked out and that we could help.”

With Tucker now in tow, and much gratitude to everyone who was involved in the search, Wimberley and her family left to head back to Katy that following Monday.

“I don’t think he would have ever been found if I wouldn’t have met these individuals within the community,” she said. “I had people all over the neighborhood that knew who he was and I just left with this is an amazing community.”

By the time they left, Wimberley not only found Tucker but she found a community within Bullard with a connection she says you don’t often see in bigger cities.

“It’s a small community and just a place where people wanna help,” Wimberley said. “They didn’t want a reward, they didn’t want any money for it. I can’t really put my finger on why… I think it’s just humanity showing good people.”