A Marion County family’s search for a missing 13-year-old dog took an unexpected turn after Apollo was found wandering more than 1,000 miles from home on Long Island, nearly two months after surveillance video showed a woman picking him up near the family’s Florida home.
News 6 ClickOrlando reporter Alex Cook said Apollo disappeared from the Ocala area on April 25, leaving his owners with few answers and no clear way to explain how their dog had vanished from a roadside near their neighborhood.
Now, after an animal shelter in Hempstead, New York scanned Apollo’s microchip, the family has confirmation that the dog is alive and preparing to return home.
But the discovery has also raised new questions about who took Apollo, why he was found so far away, and why he was wearing a tag with a different name.
A Disappearance Caught on Camera
Cook reported that Apollo’s disappearance was first brought to public attention after the family reached out for help finding him.
Surveillance video from April appeared to show a white car stopping near the family’s home. According to the family, a woman got out and asked nearby residents whether Apollo belonged to them.
When neighbors said no, the woman allegedly put the dog in her vehicle and drove away.
That was the last time Apollo was seen near home.
At the time, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office determined that no crime had occurred, according to Cook’s report. But Apollo’s owner, Vera Josey, said she believed someone had taken the dog and wanted deputies to identify the vehicle involved.
“Does it count as a crime?” Josey said. “I’m like, she took him.”
The family was left without Apollo and without a clear explanation for where he had gone.
For any pet owner, a missing dog is painful. But this case was especially unusual because the family had video suggesting Apollo did not simply wander away or become lost in the neighborhood.
An Email Brings a Shock From New York
After nearly two months of uncertainty, Josey received an email from Apollo’s microchip company saying his chip had been scanned.
Cook said the alert led Josey to contact the animal shelter immediately.
She asked where the shelter was located and received an answer she did not expect.
“She said New York,” Josey recalled. “So Apollo was in New York.”
The family had not traveled to New York, and neither had Apollo under any normal circumstances.
“My dog been in New York and neither one of us have been in New York,” Josey said.
The scan had taken place at an animal shelter in Hempstead, on Long Island. Shelter staff reportedly told the family that Apollo had been found wandering outside by a good Samaritan.
That person took him to a police station, and he was later transferred to the shelter.
The microchip ultimately gave Apollo’s family the answer they had spent weeks hoping for: he was alive.
It is hard to overstate how important that small piece of technology became in this case. Without a scanned microchip, Apollo could have remained in a shelter system under a different name, far away from anyone who knew where he truly belonged.
The Dog Was Wearing a Different Name Tag
The mystery became even stranger when shelter staff told Josey that Apollo had been wearing a tag with the name “Yuri.”
Josey knew immediately that something was wrong.
“She goes, ‘But he has a tag called Yuri,’” Josey said. “And I’m like, no, his name’s not Yuri.”
When the shelter sent her a photograph, Josey said there was no doubt.
“That’s him,” she said. “His name’s not Yuri.”
The different tag does not prove who brought Apollo to New York or when it happened. It also does not establish whether the woman seen in the Florida surveillance video was responsible for the dog’s cross-country journey.
But it adds another troubling detail to the case.
Apollo was not merely found far away. He was found with an identity that did not belong to him.
That can complicate an already difficult search because shelters rely on tags, microchips, records, and the information provided by people who bring animals in. In Apollo’s case, the chip appears to have cut through the confusion and connected him back to the people who had been searching for him since April.
Family Plans a Long Trip to Bring Him Home
Cook reported that the family was preparing to reunite with Apollo by the end of the week.
Josey’s husband, Nicholas, planned to fly to New York to bring the dog back to Florida. A relative living near the shelter was expected to pick Apollo up and meet Nicholas at John F. Kennedy International Airport for the trip home.
The travel, shelter fees, and other expenses were expected to cost the family around $1,000.
They started a GoFundMe campaign to help cover those expenses.
Josey said the family was simply relieved that Apollo had been found alive.
“I’m just excited,” she said. “And I can’t wait for him to get home.”
The reunion will also introduce Apollo to the newest member of the household, Cook reported, after the family continued building its life around the hope that their dog might eventually return.
That is one of the more moving parts of the story. The family did not know where Apollo was, who had him, or whether they would ever see him again. Then a microchip scan more than 1,000 miles away turned a disappearance into a path home.
Questions Remain for Authorities
Cook said he contacted the Marion County Sheriff’s Office again after Apollo was located in New York to ask whether the new discovery would change the agency’s earlier conclusion that no crime had occurred.
As of the report’s broadcast, the sheriff’s office had not responded.
Josey said she still wants answers about the person who picked Apollo up near the family’s home.
“I still would like to know who that person was that took him because it’s costing us to get him back,” she said.
That question is understandable.
Apollo’s journey from Ocala to Long Island is not something a dog would likely accomplish alone. Yet the available information does not establish who transported him, whether he changed hands along the way, or how he eventually ended up wandering the streets in Hempstead.
The family has a happy outcome in sight, but the bigger mystery remains unresolved.
Someone apparently saw a dog near a Florida roadside, took him away after being told he did not belong to nearby neighbors, and then Apollo later appeared in New York with another name attached to him.
A Microchip Makes the Difference
The News 6 report is ultimately a reminder of why microchips matter.
Apollo was missing for nearly two months and found in another state under a different name. A collar tag could have been removed or changed, as the family believes happened here.
But the microchip still connected him to Vera Josey and the family waiting in Florida.
That does not erase the stress, expense, or unanswered questions surrounding his disappearance. It also does not explain how a 13-year-old dog traveled more than 1,000 miles from home.
But it gave the family something they did not have for weeks: certainty that Apollo was alive.
For now, the focus is on getting him back to Marion County. After that, the family hopes authorities can help determine how a beloved Florida dog ended up on the streets of Long Island with a name that was never his.
Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, John developed a love for the great outdoors early on. With years of experience as a wilderness guide, he’s navigated rugged terrains and unpredictable weather patterns. John is also an avid hunter and fisherman who believes in sustainable living. His focus on practical survival skills, from building shelters to purifying water, reflects his passion for preparedness. When he’s not out in the wild, you can find him sharing his knowledge through writing, hoping to inspire others to embrace self-reliance.
