JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Military veteran Scott Baker’s nightmare is over. His service dog Mal’i was found safe just after midnight Thursday after she was missing for five days in an unfamiliar Jacksonville neighborhood.
Baker and Mal’i are from Iowa and were in town to help Baker’s son move into an East Arlington apartment as he begins serving in the Navy in Jacksonville.
But when Mal’i was briefly outside around 7:30 a.m. Saturday, she was hit by a truck outside the Lux Apartments near Kernan and Atlantic boulevards, and she ran off.
Baker was able to keep up with her until he lost sight of her near the Cinemark theater on Atlantic Boulevard.
That’s when he put the word out to the Jacksonville community, asking for help to find Mal’i.
And he said it was a tip from someone in the community that helped bring the brown and tan American Staffordshire Terrier home to her family.
Someone messaged Baker with security camera images, asking if the dog in them was Mal’i. Once Baker confirmed it was her, he was able to go to the area and found her, wearing a ripped tank top -- and her big smile.
“Thank you to the Jacksonville Community for your love, support, and dedication. This was a team effort. This would not have been possible without each and every one,” Baker wrote in an update on social media.
Baker previously told News4JAX that he shares a special bond with Mal’i.
“When I’m having an episode, and she wakes me up to let me know that she’s there, and right now I can’t sleep,” Baker said. “She’s not a service dog for anyone else but me. She knows what I need when I need it and why. And that’s why I need her back because I can’t live without her.”
Baker said in his update about finding Mal’i that he’ll be getting her fully evaluated Thursday with a veterinarian and will be staying in town for a bit so the community that helped find her can meet her.