A former Fort Sill soldier and his family have been reunited with their dog who went missing six months ago.

Aretha and Justin Birtch went to the airport in Philadelphia on Thursday night to retrieve their 1-year-old black Siberian husky named Alliya.

The dog disappeared from the backyard of the family's Lawton home only a week before the Birtches returned home to Montrose, Pa., with their three sons.

Alliya turned up last month at a convenience store, and Lawton animal shelter officials were able to confirm she belonged to the Birtches through a microchip system.

The shelter received a donation to pay for the dog's flight to Philadelphia, and she made it safely on a connection through Houston.

There was one last hurdle before Alliya got all the way home, though. The family ran out of gas on the three-hour drive from the airport to Montrose.

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