Pet of the week: Tiny dog who went missing 5 years ago was found living at a fraternity house

After being separated by Hurricane Laura in 2020, a lost Yorkshire Terrier named Kingston has been miraculously reunited with his owner, Debbie LaFleur, five years later, thanks to a kind group of fraternity brothers in Mississippi.

Kingston, an 11-year-old Yorkie, disappeared from his home in Lake Charles, Louisiana, when the devastating hurricane struck. Despite desperate neighborhood searches and community efforts on social media, the little dog was nowhere to be found, until fate intervened in a truly unexpected way.

© Ashton Klink

In late March 2025, fraternity brothers at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Kappa Sigma house in Hattiesburg, nearly 300 miles from Kingston’s Louisiana home, discovered a small dog lounging on their front porch. 

The men took the Yorkie in and lovingly named him “Benji,” treating him as an honorary chapter member. Kingston quickly blended into fraternity life, accompanying the brothers to softball games and local stores.

Curious about their new furry friend, one of the brothers took him to a vet to have a microchip scan. The discovery stunned them all: “Benji” was actually Kingston, who went missing for five years and still registered to his original owner.

Once the fraternity contacted Debbie via the microchip registry, she and her son Jared immediately drove the four hours to Hattiesburg. When Kingston saw Debbie, he ran full speed into her arms.

Debbie revealed that the family thought the day would never come when they would be reunited again, explaining that Kingston was a piece of her husband Joseph, who passed away in 2022.