A trip to the woods for mushroom picking left a man stunned after he discovered dog bones, which led him to turn to social media to help locate the owners.
On October 9, Harlen, known on TikTok as @mother_natures_son, went to his usual forest spot to pick mushrooms in the small town of Glade, British Columbia. He was making a live TikTok when he discovered a set of bones on the ground, he told Newsweek.
From afar, he at first thought the skull was a small bear, but as he stepped closer he noticed other parts scattered around with blue surgical plates. It dawned on him, “Oh, this is a dog.” The surgical plates had numbers, which he believed to be serial numbers. He called four local vets, hoping to connect the bones to their owners, but the numbers were for the parts.
Harlen then turned to social media to see if anyone could help locate the owners, but almost a week later there were no leads.
“About seven or eight days later, I made up my mind that I was going to go out there, make a box and bury the bones so I could dig them up later if I ever found out the owners,” he said.
That morning, however, he checked his messages and learned the owners had been located. Harlen said the TikTok account Naddy:p posted screenshots of his video on a Facebook community page, where the owners saw it. He credits the finding to this TikTok user because it never dawned on him to post his discovery on a local Facebook page.
He immediately messaged the owners through Facebook. They were traveling and not in the area but agreed to let Harlen take the bones for safekeeping until they returned home. He said he didn’t want the bones to be dragged around by animals in the meantime.
Harlen met with the owners about a week later and handed over the box he had made for the dog’s remains. The owners were finally reunited with their Lily, who had escaped from them on May 10.
“It was really emotional, and they were very grateful,” he said. “Obviously, they were devastated. They looked for her every day.”
A man collected dog bones he found in the forest while mushroom picking. TikTok helped him connect with the owners so he could return the pet’s remains.
@mother_natures_son/TikTok
During their meeting, he learned more about the owners’ beloved Lily. They rescued her from Texas and had her for over six years. Where she ran off from her owners was her favorite spot, they told Harlen.
On that heartbreaking day, they were walking her in the forested area when she bolted after something and didn’t come back. They chased after her but with no luck and then spent days and weeks searching for her in the wooded area.
Harlen said the owners took her home and buried her in their yard, where she could finally rest peacefully.
“What really stuck with me is how many people it affected and how much emotion it brought out,” he said.
Viewers were brought to tears as they followed along on the multipart video series. The clips amassed over 5 million views.
“Burst into tears when I saw her first picture. Thank you for helping her get home,” said one person.
Another echoed: “Seeing her really hit me hard. Thank you for giving her people closure and now her soul can be at ease. Thank you.”
A third commented: “They would’ve wondered what happened to her the rest of their lives, but you gave them closure and a measure of peace. That’s priceless, man. You’ve done good.”
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