To Danielle Weapon reunite with the pet I had lost five years ago it was «a miracle.» The 37-year-old woman thought that Bodhi, her cat, had been kidnapped in July 2021. At that time six cats had «mysteriously» disappeared in Chellaston, a suburban village on the southern outskirts of Derby, in Derbyshire, England.
«People in the neighborhood suspected that someone was responsible (…). There was never any evidence, so the police never took charge of the case,» Danielle said, according to media such as the BBC y Daily Mail. «The rumor was that someone took the cats and left them miles away»he added.
One day when he returned from work and noticed that not only Bodhi he was not at homebut also his brother Braxon was missing, Danielle felt «incredible anguish.» Danielle already had two other male cats as pets. In May 2020 he adopted Bodhi and Braxon. «They left the house, but never very far. They were charming,» he said.
When they disappeared, he quickly went out to look for them. QHe posted posters with his photos throughout his neighborhood, but he achieved nothing. «It was really heartbreaking; if I’m honest, it broke my heart. I’m a real cat mom: they’re my fur babies,» she said.
A few months later, found Braxon wandering the streets about 20 miles away, in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire. That same week, more missing cats were found in the same area.
However, Bodhi was missing. Danielle shared her photo in Facebook groups from his community, hoping that someone would have seen him, «but no one had.» As the years passed, he thought he was «gone.» Danielle had «lost hope» of finding him.
The miraculous reunion thanks to Facebook
However, on March 30, 2026, Viccie Mahon – a 59-year-old woman from Sudbury, Derbyshire – contacted her on Facebook and asked her «if she had ever found» Bodhi. «He told me he thought he had it and that it had been living near his country house and under his garage,» Danielle detailed.
Viccie sensed that the animal might have been lost. When in doubt, he took him to the vet, where they scanned him to see if he had a chip. This is how he knew that the cat was called Bodhi and that he had disappeared in 2021
Since Viccie couldn’t contact Danielle through the phone number registered on the chip, she searched for the pet’s name on Facebook and found a post. That’s how he was able to contact Danielle.
«I’ve moved twice since Bodhi went missing, and the second time I hadn’t updated my new address on his chip. Viccie had been trying to contact me since last year«said Danielle. ‘As much as I would have liked to keep her, I know from experience that if someone is desperately looking for their cat, you can’t just keep them,’ Viccie said.
When Danielle went to look for Bodhi, she burst into tears: «I was shocked. There aren’t many cats that go missing for so long and then come back. It was so surreal. I thought, ‘Where were you all this time?'»
«It’s crazy, I screamed his name when we met and he came trotting towards me, it was like in a movie. He rubbed my head and purred. He was so affectionate after all these years,» she added.
