Choco is a man of mystery — the central mystery being how the small brown dog who vanished from his home in California in 2021 ended up tied to a fence in Detroit nearly five years later.

The dog's story starts in Antelope, Calif., where a loving owner adopted him in March 2016. Sadly, in May 2021, Choco disappeared from this home and never returned.

"His owner never gave up hope. She knew he was microchipped and continued to search for him," Helping Paws and Claws shared in a Facebook post about the pup.

The California-based animal welfare nonprofit became involved in Choco's saga when the dog resurfaced in Detroit, Mich., thousands of miles from home, seemingly out of nowhere. Nearly five years after going missing, the dog was found abandoned and tied to a fence outside a Detroit

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