Stolen Dog Reunited With Traveling Nurse – NBC 7 San Diego

A nurse who had her 6-year-old Australian sheepdog stolen along with her camper was reunited with her pet after both the dog and camper have been found.

The heartwarming reunion between Mason Gray, a traveling pediatric nurse, and her dog Bexley, took place outside the Los Angeles Police Department’s station in Florence, after a detective called Gray to give her the good news.

“Hi baby! I missed you so much!” Gray said as her dog ran toward her.

Bexley wasted no time jumping straight into Gray’s arms.

Mason Gray described the moment she discovered her camper had been stolen. Inside was everything she owns, including her canine companion.

“I was in shock. I was in disbelief,” said Gray. “I didn’t know it was real. It felt like a dream. I didn’t know what to do.”

“She’s my best friend in the world. I love her so much.”

Gray, a pediatric nurse, drove across the country from Florida in her Jeep with her 6-year-old Australian sheepdog and the camper in tow.

“My whole life was in there. I just spent a day and a half organizing everything to make it livable.”

She and her dog had been living in the 1971 tan camper for the past two weeks, while she worked at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles on a travel nurse assignment.

“I’ve been staying at various RV sites and parks, Echo Park, Silverlake and just enjoying Los Angeles. I haven’t had any issues, any trouble.”

That is, until late Saturday night. After working a 12-hour shift, she returned to the corner of Sunset Drive and Sunset Boulevard, behind the Vista Theatre. That’s where she’d parked her camper with her dog inside. Both were gone.

Mason Gray’s dog was inside her camper when it was taken. Kim Baldonado reports for the NBC4 News on Monday, May 23, 2022. 

“It was devastating,” Gray said. “I was heartbroken.”

Friends were calling animal shelters, hoping to find Gray’s dog and she has been checking nearby businesses for security camera footage.

She did find one video, which shows her camper hitched to the suspect’s car, driving away, but she the license plate wasn’t visible.

But thanks to the hard work of Gray, her friends, and detectives at the LAPD, her camper and her dog were found. Police shared the photos of the camper van that they recovered, and said a suspect is in custody.

Gray says she’s grateful to everyone who helped spread the word to help find Bexley.

“Literally, it’s just — hard work pays off,” Gray said after the reunion. “I went out there and I was not going to give up. I was gonna literally search day in and day out to find her, and I’m so happy I have her. I’m just in bliss right now.”