Beloved Donkey Missing for 5 Years Turns Up with Most Unlikely New 'Family'

Terrie and Dave Drewry of Auburn, California never thought they'd see their pet donkey Diesel again. After five long years since the animal first went missing, all truly seemed lost. Until recently, when a chance post on social media prompted the answers they'd been looking for for so long.

The whole miraculous story is like something out of a movie. One day Diesel is gone and then five years later he reappears like magic.

According to CBS News, the donkey first disappeared in 2019. The couple lives on a ranch near Auburn. They had Diesel and a few other animals living with them on the property, but things took a significant turn one day when Dave brought Diesel with him on a hike in the Cache Creek wilderness near Clear Lake.

Related: Donkey's Cute Morning Greeting on the Farm Is Impossible to Resist

Dave doesn't know what sent Diesel fleeing that day. It was clear that something scared him.

"We think a mountain lion might have spooked him," Terrie recalled to the news outlet. "He just got away."

It was heartbreaking. The couple searched for Diesel for weeks on foot, horseback, and drone, but it seemed like the animal had simply vanished.

A month after Diesel's disappearance, they had some hope that he was alive. He was caught on a trail camera and his footprints were also found — but no Diesel.

"We finally kind of gave up," Terrie explained. "Just no signs of him."

A video shared on social media in March reignited their hope.

Triathlete and hunter Max Fennell was on a hunting trip when "I bumped into a herd of elk that have adopted a donkey," he wrote online. "I can’t get over seeing it and I’m amazed that the donkey looks happy and healthy!" he added. He shared the footage, which somehow made its way back to the Drewrys. They were thrilled.

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The couple believes the donkey in the footage is Diesel. Terrie told CBS News that she's certain it's him.

"It was amazing. It was like, oh my gosh. Finally, we saw him. Finally, we know he's good. He's living his best life. He's happy. He's healthy, and it was just a relief," she explained.

The two say they feel that the donkey is Diesel because it is only a few miles away from where they lost him and is in an area where there are no wild donkeys. They say that Diesel seems happy and healthy with his new family and have no plans to try and bring him home at this point.

"To catch him would be next to impossible," Terrie explained. "He is truly a wild burro now."

The donkey does seem to be protecting his new kin from predators, which makes Dave and Terrie very proud.

"He's out there doing what he's raised to do," Terrie added.

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