This must be one of the most incredible missing stories to date, as a cat owner had been searching for his feline friend for over five years with no luck. One day, he received a telephone call that completely shocked his world. Viktor Usov lost his cat Sasha half a decade ago and had no idea where she went.

The man from Portland, Oregon had pretty much given up all hope, especially after all those years. Sasha was nowhere to be found anywhere in the neighborhood – but then something incredible happened. At the time she disappeared, Sasha was just a kitten.

Viktor got a phone call from an animal shelter in Santa Fe, New Mexico. That’s no less than 1,200 miles away from home!

The Santa Fe Animal Shelter is the largest no-kill animal shelter in northern New Mexico and has been supporting animals since 1939. They collaborate with the City of Sante Fe and the shelter has access to a large campus as well as dog parks to make sure that every four-footer in the shelter has a good and nice place to stay while they’re waiting for their forever home.

The shelter staff found a six-year-old cat with black fur, which apparently was Sasha!

Of course, Viktor simply thought it was a mistake. There was just no way that his missing cat would show up five years later in a different state.

“I couldn’t believe it,” he told the animal shelter according to BBC. “We thought the worst, but when we received the call, we were so thankful Sasha was alive and well.”

At the moment, nobody has any idea how the kitten even got there, as it’s quite the distance to travel. The most important thing, however, is that Sasha was doing okay and was finally found. Owner Viktor does have his assumptions on how Sasha managed to travel more than 1200 away from home, as he believes Sasha may have simply hitched a ride with a driver.

“I guess I want to think he was on a great American adventure,” he told.

If there’s one thing that this story shows, it’s the importance of microchips.

It was thanks to Sasha’s microchip that rescuers were able to identify the poor cat, as well as locate her owner. Microchips are safe, permanent and can’t be falsified – every pet should have one in case they run away from home or get lost.

“A simple microchip, which is the size of a grain of rice and is implanted under the pet’s skin, helped us find the guardian of this missing cat,” public relations officer Murad Kirdar of the Santa Fe shelter told in a statement.

After the owner was identified, arrangements were made for a reunion.

Sasha and Mr. Kirdar of the Santa Fe shelter took an American Airlines plane to Portland so that the owner and cat could reunite. According to the BBC, the airline company was “honored” that they were able to help out in this beautiful reunion story.

“We’re glad to have provided a happy ending to Sasha’s long journey,” spokesman Curtis Blessing told.

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Source: SF Humane Society, BBC