“The Entire State Of Texas Showed Up.” Neighbors Rally To Bring Stolen Dog Back Home.

In a split second, a simple errand turned into a nightmare for Makenzie Koch and her beloved dog Riggins.

The former Texas Christian University soccer star was heading to the gym with her golden retriever when she realized she forgot to lock the front door of her Fort Worth, Texas, apartment.

Leaving the engine running, Makenzie dashed the few steps to her door to lock up. When she turned around, she was shocked to see a man getting into the driver’s seat of her Chevy Tahoe.

“I started screaming,” Makenzie wrote on Facebook. “All I knew was I had to get behind my car, make this guy run over me before he took off with my dog. He then pulled up on to the sidewalk and got out that way.”

Panicking, Makenzie began to yell for help. Her cellphone had been inside the car as well. After reporting the theft, Makenzie asked for support locating her car and dog on social media. Before she knew it, “the entire state of Texas showed up.”

“Friends, family, strangers,” she said. “I received an outpour of love and support about Riggs story, which entirely restored my faith in humanity.”

Makenzie was able to locate her missing phone, which had been tossed on the ground near the TCU campus. She spent the next few hours worried sick about Riggins, but later that afternoon, she received the best call ever: Her car and her dog had been found!

The car had been abandoned in a gas station parking lot in Grand Prairie. The police had been called because someone left the SUV running. When they investigated, they found it unlocked with the air conditioning running… and an adorable dog inside. Riggins was a bit grumpy, but otherwise fine!

The car had been running for hours at that point. Makenzie is just grateful that she filled her gas tank the day before, and that no one else messed with the vehicle while it sat there idling all afternoon.

“My car sat at this gas station, with keys in it, ac blasting, unlocked, and Riggs inside for hours and not one person touched it,” Makenzie wrote. “Riggs sat in the back with his pallet and pillows LIKE THE BEST BOY ever. Not one thing, including my credit card, was taken from the car.”

People really do come together under stressful circumstances like these! We’re so glad this story has a happy ending.

Watch Makenzie’s short video about the ordeal below, and be sure to share this story to welcome Riggins back home.