'Miracle' Dog Coco, Lost For 15+ Months, And Who Also Survived Fire, Home Safe

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — Reunited, and it feels so good: After more than a year of desperate searching, a little lost dog, Coco, has been returned to his adoring family.

And it's not the first miracle for Coco — the pup also survived a house fire, years earlier.

Speaking with Patch, Caidence Merrill said while Coco, who had been missing since July 8, 2025, lived in Patchogue, he went missing from the Holbrook area while her mom Raquel was visiting a friend.

Merrill said her mother and she searched tirelessly, handing out flyers, knocking on doors, posting on Facebook — doing everything, anything, to bring their beloved dog home safely.

"I had him since I was seven, and I'm 20 now," Merrill said. "Basically, my whole life."

In 2016, Merrill said she and her family were especially bonded with Coco after they all survived the house fire; they'd lost their material possessions, but they had each other — and their precious Coco.

As the long search for their dog spanned months, their hope never faded, Merrill said. Despite some naysayers who told them "they didn't think that Coco had survived", in their hearts, Merrill and her mother and brother believed that somewhere, their faithful friend was alive.

Merrill searched for hours, months, going out with her boyfriend at night and calling her dog's name in to the darkness, searching behind a shopping complex nearby, scouring the streets.

"Months and months and months went by and we didn't give up," she said.

Some people thought they'd spotted Coco, a Shih Tzu who weights about 12 lbs. and is 14 years old, a "senior dog," she said — but the hope faded quickly when Merrill learned that the dog who'd been spotted wasn't her sweet pup.

Even though more than 15 months had passed, Merrill and her mother never stopped searching, calling animal shelters and vets, praying for a whisper or a word about Coco's fate.

"No one had reported anything," Merrill said. "And that led us to believe that someone may have taken him. That maybe, they found him and just kept him."

Coco, she added, was microchipped.

Eventually, Merrill said, her family moved back to Medford, where they had once lived.

And then, the miracle that Merrill and her family had been praying for, became reality: On the night of October 18, Merrill said she was home, sitting in bed on FaceTiming with her boyfriend.

"All of a sudden Teddy," — Henn, of Long Island Lost Dog Search & Rescue — " knocked on my door." In a scene straight from the most heartwarming of movies, Henn said Coco had been found.

Good Samaritan Sonja Anderson, he said, had found Coco on the street in Patchogue, wearing a striped sweater, and reached out to Henn, known on Long Island for his heroic rescues of lost animals.

"I asked him to please, show me Coco," Merrill said. "And when I saw it was him, I ran outside."

The sweater Coco was wearing seemed to indicate that someone had had him, she said.

It was possible that Coco had run away from whoever had him, Merrill said. "He was always a roamer," she said. "He liked to go out. But since he's been home, he's attached to my hip, and my mom's."

Their story is filled with amazing angel winks, Merrill said. The address in Medford where Henn knocked on her door, Merrill said, was the address connected with Coco's microchip.

Just a few months earlier, tenants had been living at that address.

"It could have been them, living here, but it happened to be us. It's a miracle," she aid.

Hope had begun to feel faint, Merrill said. "I kept seeing posts about other lost dogs and I was worried no one was paying attention to Coco's story anymore," she said. "I wanted to say to everyone, 'Please, don't forget my dog.'"

Once she had her precious Coco back in her arms on that life-changing night, Merrill reached out frantically to her mother.

When she heard that Coco was home, her mother, Merrill said, began screaming, then ran over to the house, her clothes all askew from throwing them on so quickly.

Her mother, she said, collapsed to the floor in joy when she saw Coco again.

And the family's other dogs also rejoiced — especially Milo, who remembered his old friend and greeted him with excitement. "Milo and Coco were always the best of friends," Merrill said.

Once home, Merrill set up Coco in a small area, so he'd feel safe — surrounding him with soft pillows and cozy blankets.

When found, Coco was very skinny and frail, with fleas and a tapeworm, the veterinarian said — it was unclear how long Coco had been out alone on the street.

But already, buoyed by love, Coco is improving, Merrill said.

"When he first got hime, I fed him and gave him water and he went right to sleep, like a baby," she said.

Another incredible twist of fate was that Coco was found on Conklin Avenue, near where her family used to live in Patchogue — even though he'd gone missing from Holbrook.

After having survived a fire and then, the ache of Coco's disappearance, Merrill said her mother was "ecstatic" to have her pooch home safe. "My mom said, 'I feel like there's been a curse on our family, and now it's been lifted,'" Merrill said.

And Coco, too, was clearly happy to finally, after weeks and months of separation from all he'd ever known — to be home safe.

"He's so happy, and he's so playful," Merrill said.

Coco, she said, has been a part of her life since childhood. "I used to dress him up and paint his nails," she laughed.

She and her brother played with their puppy for endless hours when they were children.

Now that Coco is home, she and her mom have been spoiling Coco, giving him treats and nibbles of cheese.

"It's like a reunion celebration, a party," she said.

Her sweet Coco, Merrill said, is home for the holidays — home for Christmas.

"I cannot wait to get him a new Christmas sweater," she said.

Reflecting on what Coco's homecoming means, Merrill said: "You start to think good things like this only happen in movies," she said. "But this shows that good things can actually happen in real life. I feel so grateful."

Merrill expressed heartfelt thanks to the woman who saw Coco and picked him up. "I can't even imagine how many other people just passed him by and thought, 'Whatever, it's just a dog,'" she said. "She's an angel, a guardian angel. She saved him."


Merrill said she and her family are also eternally grateful to Henn. "My mother said she doesn't know how she can ever repay him," she said. "We're all so grateful."

When she saw Coco, not only was he recognized due to his chip, but because of the gray markings by his nose.

The wonder of being able to snuggle with Coco again, to have him safe and warm in her arms and heart, has been breathtaking in its joy, Merrill said. "I keep staring at him and thinking, 'Is this real?'" she said.

Thinking back to the fire, Merrill said her other childhood dog, Bella — who has since passed away — saved the entire family.

"Her barking woke me up, and then I woke up my family," she said.

On that day, Coco had also been missing briefly but was found within the hour, circling the house near the firefighters, she aid.

"I think that was why, as a little girl, I was so attached to him," she said.

Her brother Gary, she said, is also thrilled by Coco's miracle journey home. He'll be back from college at Thanksgiving and can't wait to see Coco again.

Coco, Merrill said, has given her family new and abiding hope.

"We've been through a lot," she said. "So, having something good like this happen has helped my attitude, my mindset. And my mom's, too. She's waking up every day now with a smile on her face. And I appreciate everything more — because Coco is back with us."

Coco may never have been found if he hadn't been microchipped, Merrill said. "It's a really big lesson," she said. "Chip your dog."

Coco, she said, has found new fame in his homecoming. "I'm still in awe. I'm smiling, ear to ear. I literally can't stop talking about it," she said. "I've told every single person. Every relative. My family in Florida knows all about him. Everybody knows about Coco. "