Social media helps reunite Beatrice teen with her missing dog

Just like she does every morning, Emmalee Undereiner let her dog, Castle, out into her front yard Thursday. 

But unlike every other morning, the 14 year-old Chihuahua Pomeranian decided to take off.

Emmalee and her father searched the alley next to her house – one of Castle’s favorite hiding spots – but he was nowhere to be seen. 

Frantic to find him, Emmalee posted in a Beatrice neighborhood watch Facebook group.

Little did she know that just minutes earlier a Beatrice police officer had made a Facebook post of her own. 

It was a photo of Castle, nestled in the officers arm with a phone next to his head, with the caption "Mom, if you see this please call and then come get me. [The officer] is talking about making me type reports next." 

The post worked – and within 15 minutes, word got back to Emmalee that Castle was safe and sound at the police station. 

"So we go down there and the lady in the office is like, ‘You here for the dog?’ And I’m like, ‘Yep!,’" Emmalee said. "And the officer came out holding him and I was so happy to see him." 

Reunited and feeling good, Emmalee credits the tight-knit Beatrice community for helping her find Castle so quickly. 

"With our neighbors, we know each other by a first name basis," she said. "And they know us by our dogs." 

It wasn’t Castle’s first taste of misfortune. 

He was a rescue dog, abused and left without any teeth by his former owners. 

For Emmalee, a volunteer at the Beatrice Humane Society, he was perfect. 

"We brought him home Christmas Eve," she said. 

While it may not be Christmas, Emmalee says being reunited with Castle is a gift in itself.