SPRINGFIELD, III (WAND) - A Springfield dog reunites with his owner after a year and 3 months of living on his own in the woods. 

Yadi is Jesse West's Sr.'s 7-year old black Labrador. He's well known around his neighborhood. West says, "In our little neighborhood, everyone knew him everyone loved him.“ In fact, Yadi often jumped the fence and roamed around his community. But one thing was for sure, he always came back home. 

Until his home caught on fire one day, in the midst of the chaos, he jumped the fence and ran away in fear. "We think that’s what scared him, he probably couldn’t figure out where to go." Over the next couple months, people would see him around Springfield, but no one was able to catch him. 

"It was weird that no one could catch him because he knew everyone and loved everyone. We were catching him on camera and he would only come out in the middle of the night."  West says. 

"He was in survival mode, whenever someone chased him, he ran faster." Judi Bone, one of the people who helped catch him, says. Eventually, the community did not see Yadi anymore. That's because Yadi was on his way to Effingham, where volunteer rescuers caught him after over three months of trying. 

Bone says Yadi was not in good shape. "He was filthy he smell like a mix of dead animals and poop and he just smelled really bad like I put them in my car and he was like really bad." But, luckily Yadi was well fed throughout his 15-month adventure. A local farmer spotted Yadi and would set out food for him but was never able to catch him.

Once rescuers finally caught him with a live trap, they brought him over to Bone. She says Yadi was exhausted. "He was so tired, he just stayed with me all day, sleeping and snoring." 

They scanned Yadi's chip and were able to find West's contact information. Immediately, they gave him a call. Bone says West was shocked. "We ended up getting a hold of him and he was an all he was like what ? You have my dog?" West says he could not believe it.

“I get that call yesterday morning I just couldn’t believe it I was overwhelmed with joy and excitement and tears."

Soon enough, West drove from Springfield to Effingham to pick Yadi up and the rest is history. Yadi recognized West right away. "He means the world to me and I am just so thrilled and happy to have him back home."