After four days of searching for his lost dog Koda during a visit to Tucson, Devin Ashmore made one of the hardest decisions he’s ever had to make.

“Sadly, I leave Arizona tomorrow. If everyone can just keep their eyes out for him. If you find him, make sure he finds his way back home to me,” Ashmore wrote November 11 in a post on the “Tucson Lost and Found Animals” Facebook group. “He’s the sweetest dog you will ever meet, and deserves nothing but the WORLD!”

Ashmore had some hope he’d be reunited with Koda, but was also heartbroken at the thought that he might never see his best friend again.

He had a wedding to get to that weekend then a new job in Mississippi.

But thanks to several kind, dog-loving Tucsonans, Koda and Ashmore are back together again.

For three days before having to leave Tucson, Ashmore looked for Koda before work and after work.

“I cried a couple times, every other night we hadn’t found him,” Ashmore said. “It was really tough on me because he’s kind of my little support system so not having my buddy around really sucked.”

While Ashmore was away from his room on Nov. 9, the wind blew the door open and Koda ran out of the room near Wilmot Road and Interstate 10. Duke, his coworker’s black pit bull, also ran out, but Duke was found the next morning trying to get back into the room, Ashmore said.

Ashmore left Tucson that Thursday night, headed back home to Oklahoma where he would be a groomsman at a wedding on Saturday.

On the afternoon of Friday the 13th, Ashmore got a phone call from Billy Henley who told him he thought he’d seen Koda with a homeless man near Valencia Road and I-10.

Henley, who lives near Valencia Road, snapped a picture of the dog and sent it to Ashmore to confirm it was Koda.

Ashmore recognized his dog immediately.

Henley went back to the same area later that day to look for the homeless man known as Jeremiah.

Jeremiah told Henley Koda had approached his camp in a nearby wash a few days ago. Because he had no way to tell anyone he had found a dog he decided to buy Koda a leash and feed him and care for him, hoping the owner, or someone who knew who Koda belonged to would recognize the dog, Henley said.

Once Henley showed Jeremiah he’d been in contact with Koda’s owner, Jeremiah handed the leash over, Henley said.

He told Jeremiah about a $300 reward Ashmore had offered on the Facebook post. Jeremiah immediately suggested he and Henley split the money.

With Koda’s leash in hand, Henley wasn’t sure what the next step would be. But the Facebook group dedicated to reuniting lost pets with their owners had already mobilized, communicating with Ashmore every step of the way.

A woman in the Facebook group, Gwynne Campbell, met Henley where he found Koda and took the dog, saying she would get him to a temporary foster home while arrangements were made to transport him to Ashmore.

Todd Wacks had seen Ashmore’s post earlier that week and had volunteered to drive Koda to Ashmore, wherever that might be, if anyone found the missing dog.

After Koda was found, someone in the group contacted Wacks asking if he was still able to make the drive for the reunion.

On Saturday night, Nov. 14, Wacks picked up Koda where he was being fostered on the city’s east side and the pair hit the road.

They drove 12 hours overnight to Amarillo, Texas.

Wacks got to a hotel about 10 a.m. Sunday and got some rest while Ashmore drove five hours west to pick up Koda.

A reunion video posted on the Facebook group shows a crying and shrieking Koda, wagging his whole body the moment he sees Ashmore. Wacks waited until the hotel door closed before releasing Koda, worried the dog could accidentally run out and get lost again.

Lynn Mader, also on the Facebook group at the time, created a GoFundMe for Wacks to help him pay for the trip to Texas. Nearly $700 was raised.

Wacks said he didn’t need the almost $700 raised. He and Mader decided the money will be used to buy live trap cages to help catch lost animals that won’t let humans come near them, Wacks said.

“We hope this will lead to a greater success rate in catching lost/stray dogs and catching feral cats to get them altered and adopted to loving families or released back to where they were found,” Wacks said in a text message.

Wacks said Ashmore is lucky to have lost Koda in a city with so many kind, dog-lovers.

As for the $300 reward for finding Koda, Henley declined his share saying he’s fortunate enough to still have a job during the pandemic.

That means Jeremiah will get the $300 reward for finding, and caring for Koda.

Ashmore says he’s blown away by the effort and kindness strangers from Tucson showed in reuniting him with his best friend.

“That whole group they went way beyond just to get my dog to me and get us reunited,” Ashmore said. “I couldn’t thank them enough.”

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