Poncho the dog found after being missing for 15 weeks

PALM COAST, Fla. (FOX 35 WOFL) - A dog that was missing for 15 weeks after he was rescued from Puerto Rico and brought to Florida has finally been located. 

Poncho, as he was once called, was rescued from the island after Hurricane Maria hit. Megan Blizard, who lives in the Tampa area, then took him in. 

“We picked up Poncho as a foster to adopt,” she explained. 

But during a Thanksgiving trip to see her family in Palm Coast, Blizard says Poncho got off his leash and bolted. 

“We used Facebook to follow him wherever he was going. I had so many people in the community helping me,” Blizard said. 

She says the small dog was spotted in Bunnell, Ormond Beach and Port Orange. It's a long trek up and down the coast on short legs and every time someone would get close, Poncho would take off.

“He ate feral cat food, I got more than one phone call that he was in somebody’s dumpster,” Blizard said. 

Then in late January, Gregory Heck says a dog moved into his yard in Ormond Beach. His family had no idea how he got there, but he kept close, even though the property isn’t fenced in. 

“He had a little bit of sadness in his eyes, I could tell something happened to him,” Heck said. “We took him in right away, provided food and shelter for him. A little bit of companionship with our dog and we could see that sadness in his eyes start to fade. We can actually pet him now, it’s great!” 

The family had started calling him Black Dog. It wasn’t until a few days ago that Heck heard about the missing pooch named Poncho and reached out to Blizard. 

“It was the longest 15 weeks of my life trying to do everything we could to bring him home but he’s happy, safe and fed and he’s making little friends. He has a life there now. I couldn’t imagine taking him from it,” Blizard said. 

Heck’s family is now in the process of adopting the dog. Their new pet has quite the story of survival