Dog missing in Kansas recovered in San Diego

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – If all went well, a dog named Rascal was to be home in Kansas by Saturday, after an unexplained odyssey that resulted in his being found running loose in San Diego, Calif.

The 13-month-old Jack Russell terrier mix disappeared over Thanksgiving from the home in Oswego, Kan., where he lived with Ty and Nikki Lewis and their children, ages 7 and 9.

Just how Rascal came to be in San Diego is unknown.

But he was found last week in the Kearny Mesa area by a good Samaritan, according to the county Department of Animal Services.

Rascal was still wearing his dog tag, with the phone number of a veterinarian in Oswego.

A call was made to the veterinarian and a reunion arranged.

The Foundation for the Care of Indigent Animals is paying the fare for a United flight Saturday from San Diego to Tulsa, Okla., about two hours from Oswego.

Nikki Lewis is playing things safe: not a word to the children until Rascal arrives.

I'm just telling them we're picking up someone at the airport, she said.