MT. JULIET, Tenn. (WTVF) — It seems we're always reading articles now about how people are less neighborly. A couple said that's certainly not true of where they live, and they're sharing a story to prove it.
Find a place where you can be surrounded by great people — that was always the hope for Aline Lanna and Alex Toledo.
Watch Aline and Alex talk about getting their dog back in the player above. It's worth it.
"When we decided to start a family, we wanted to find a nice neighborhood," Alex said.
They said they found it in Mt. Juliet's Jackson Hills.
"There's a lot of good people around us," Aline added.
That's something just proven to them. Aline was going out for a walk with her nine-month-old daughter when the family's dog Luna slipped away and vanished. Within minutes, the neighborhood jumped in on a search. Everyone checked their doorbell cameras.
"We also created a Facebook ad campaign that received 54,000 impressions," Alex said.
"All I did was cry and pray," Aline continued. "I felt guilty cause I lost Luna. I was the reason why she disappeared."
Alex and Aline hadn't given up.
Among those good neighbors in the search was 10-year-old Kadyn Holland.
"I went everywhere trying to find her," Kadyn said. "She's not even a year old yet, so it made me scared for her. She was probably so scared."
"Kadyn never gave up," Aline said. "Every day he was searching for Luna."
Searching for Luna was on day 11. Kadyn and some friends were around a construction site by Jackson Hills.
"We were on this big hill, and we were shooting these big gel blasters," Kadyn said. "My gel blaster slipped out of my hands. I went down to get it. Luna was right next to there."
She was trapped between rocks.
"She yelped for help because she saw us," Kadyn continued. "She was not doing very well. She was really skinny."
After getting some check-ups, Luna is OK.
"Very much, yes," Aline smiled. "She was jumping, running around."
"She grew up real fast," added Alex.
"Yes, she did," Aline said. "Poor little thing."
Alex and Aline are still working to get Luna's weight back up and get her eating like normal again. The way the neighborhood responded was another confirmation for a couple, they picked just the place to end up surrounded by good people.
"I really think it's a miracle that he found Luna," said Aline.
"I'm so happy that she's home, and glad I found her," said Kadyn.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
