JACKSONVILLE — Navy veteran Scott Baker was reunited with his service dog Mal’i after a dayslong search in Jacksonville, Florida. Mal’i had run off following a hit-and-run incident near Atlantic Boulevard and Marketplace Drive in Jacksonville last weekend.
Baker refused to leave Jacksonville without Mal’i, prompting a widespread search effort. Strangers shared flyers, sent tips, and joined in looking for the dog across neighborhoods.
Just after midnight Thursday, Baker received a text from an anonymous tipster that included a photo pointing him to a wooded area in the Sutton Lakes neighborhood, just over a mile from where Mal’i was last seen. He used a remote connected to Mal’i’s collar to activate a beeping signal.
“I could hear it, and that just gave me so much joy that she’s here, she’s somewhere around here,” he said. “I shined the light and I saw her eyes, and that moment I said, ‘There she is.’”
He added, “She stood up and put her nose through the fence, she knew it was me.” After the reunion, Mal’i underwent a full veterinary exam and was found to have no broken bones and only minor injuries. Baker said Mal’i has some minor cuts and lacerations that might be from the accident when she got hit.
“I’m overwhelmed with emotions,” he said. “I can’t thank the Jacksonville community enough.” He described the search as a collective achievement: “It was a combined effort of everybody pitching in and helping out for this to be a happy ending.” He reflected on the experience by referencing his military background: “In the Navy, we have this phrase: ‘all hands on deck.’ This wasn’t just one person—it was a team, a community, a village bringing us to this point, to this success.”