After surviving a hurricane and spending five years wandering, a little dog named Kingston decided to join a frat.
In 2020, Kingston, a Yorkie belonging to Lake Charles, Louisiana resident Debbie LaFleur, disappeared amidst Hurricane Laura, which tore through southwestern parts of the state , leaving wreckage in its wake.
LaFleur had Kingston for approximately six years at the time of the hurricane, she told USA TODAY, and was shocked when she returned home in the aftermath of the storm to find her little dog had gone missing.
"And so we went around the whole neighborhood. Everybody on Facebook was trying to help us locate him, but it was like, 'We're not gonna get him back,'" she told the paper.
LaFluer and her husband, Joseph, were heartbroken at the loss of their companion.
Five years later, a fraternity brother at Kappa Sigma house on the University of Southern Mississippi campus left home and found Kingston hanging around outside.
"I walk outside, and there's just this Yorkie sitting there in a red T-shirt," Neal Rachal, president of the fraternity, told WDAM.
The campus is in Hattiesburg, about 300 miles away from Lake Charles.
The brothers took the dog in and named him Benji, and he became the frat dog until the brothers learned who he really was.
"The next day, our vice president went and got his chip checked, and that's when we found out that his name was actually Kingston, not Benji," Rachal said.
He added that because Kingston had been microchipped, the brothers were able to determine that the dog had been missing for half a decade.
"I walk in the house and John said, 'He's Kingston' and I was like, ‘What are you talking about, dude?'" Rachal told USA TODAY. "And he was like 'No, Benji is Kingston. He's from Lake Charles, Louisiana, and he's been missing for five years.’"
During his stay with the fraternity brothers, the little Yorkie was kept plenty busy.
"He hung out with a bunch of my pledge brothers and just guys around the house. And then whenever we had an intramural softball game, he'd come to the softball game with us. I know he went to Walmart and the local grocery store a couple of times," Rachal said. "I mean, wherever we went, he was with us."
Despite enjoying their new furry pal, the frat brothers did the right thing and called LaFleur by using information available on PetLink.
"My heart just started pounding, and I told my boss, 'I found Kingston, I found Kingston,' and we both just started yelling and screaming," she told WISN news.
A week after learning that Kingston had been found, LaFleur and her son drove more than four hours to pick him up at the university campus.
"We pulled up to the house and all the guys were outside," LaFleur said. "I was at the end of the walkway, and he was at the house, and I just said, 'Kingston, come to Mommy,' and he just took off running, which made my heart burst even more. It was wonderful, wonderful to see him."
She said after the reunion that she was “so happy to have my baby back,” but noted that the reunion was somewhat bittersweet.
In 2022, LaFleur's husband, Joseph, died in an accident at work. He and the little dog were inseparable, according to LaFleur. While Kingston and Joseph could not enjoy a reunion, LaFleur said she felt some connection to her late husband thanks to the Yorkie’s return.
"He slept on my husband every night and and he wouldn't come to me unless my husband was going to work, and then he was snuggling with me ... It was his best friend," she told the paper. "I feel like I have a piece of my husband back."
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