Lost Cat Returned to Owner Without Aid of $1,000 Reward

For more than three weeks, Old Dutch Road resident Joey Percario has been searching for a friend who went missing on June 5.

But a phone call from a Plainfield shleter this morning reunited Percario with his faithful pet, a Bengal cat named Troy, much to his relief.

"I was just overjoyed—I couldn't believe it was him," Percario said.

Percario was working in Roselle at the time the call came through, so his sister went to check on the cat alleged to be Troy—and when Percario heard Troy's distinctive meowing over the phone, he knew his search was over.

"He stays pretty close to me when I'm home," Percario said, but added Troy can get antsy if cooped up. 

Percario believes someone found Troy and took him in—he is clean and healthy, too much so to have been in the woods for three weeks. It's possible Troy either managed to escape from whomever was keeping him or the person let him go.

Which was a costly mistake: Percario had been offering a $1,000 reward for the location of Troy, a substantial offer that yielded lots of calls through the signs posted throughout Warren.

"Most of the people calling just wanted to help me find him," Percario said, noting few claimed to have seen Troy.

Troy fell through a window screen to make his escape—something Percario said won't happen again since he plans to always keep his window closed.

Also missing Troy was a brother from the same litter, who was cool but relieved about his brother's return.

"They played a little then took a nap," Percario said.