Imagine getting a phone call about a family member who had been missing for 13 years.
Now imagine that they'd been found safe and sound more than 330 miles away.
This is the tale of two cities and the prodigal son who has been reunited with the family.
The Corso home includes 13 animals with plenty of room to roam. They have four dogs: Rocky, Goldie, Charlie and Lady Bug. There are two horses who live away from the home. And there are seven cats.
Until recently, there were only six.
Bandit the cat returned to the fold recently after disappearing 13 years ago when the Corso family lived in Las Vegas.
In 2000, the family called a TV repairman out to their home and realized soon after the repairman left that Bandit was missing.
They searched Vegas for months but eventually gave up and almost a decade later, moved to San Diego.
A feral cat rescue group found Bandit during a round-up of feral cats and checked him for a microchip. He had one and the group traced his family all the way to San Diego.
The call from Vegas was a shock, said Dante Corso, Bandit's owner.
"Hi, are you missing Bandit?" Corso said, recalling the conversation. "Missing Bandit? Is this a prank call or something?"
Elizabeth Corso calls Bandit's return a miracle.
"He's been on a walkabout or an adventure," she said. "But we're hoping his adventure was kind to him."
Bandit is headed to a veterinarian for a check-up and evaluation this weekend.
