"It's 4heartwarming, pretty amazing."

"Honestly never thought I'd see him again."

His owner, Tara Hillis, lives in Georgia, and says he disappeared from her 5property in 2017 when he was one-and-a-half years old.

"He either jumped the fence or 6dug up under it."

Weeks turned into months, then into years, with no word on his 7whereabouts.

"8Initially I thought somebody might, took him to try to breed him, but he9's fixed. So many years go by, you just kind of, oh, I miss him."

A couple people say they found Chief Saturday alone, 10wandering at East Lynn Lake in Wayne County, and brought him to the Huntington Cabell Wayne Animal Shelter.

"He's just a big baby."

Workers here were able to find Tara's 11contact information thanks to a chip she had put in him.

"I can't wait this. I cannot believe this is... like this is insane."

"After six years, Tara had pretty much given up any hope that she would ever be seeing Chief again and she was thrilled when she got the phone call he'd been found."

"Did you cry?" - "Yes, yeah." 

"It's already given me chills."

Rachel Boone is 12the canine behavior specialist at the shelter.

"Soon he will have his forever again with the people he needs to be with. That's his family."