Family reunited with beloved pet spider monkey after 24-hour search with help from dogs, thermal cameras
A Mississippi family was reunited with their beloved pet spider 👍monkey after dozens of volunteers joined in the 24-hour search and managed to track down t🧸he pesky primate with thermal cameras and hunting dogs.
Cameron and Kaitlynn Cuevas, of Biloxi, adopted Kenzie two years ago when she was just six weꦐeks old and the animal quickly became part of their family, the couple .
“She’s with us every single day,” Cameron Cuevas told the outlet, holding the diapered monkey. “Just like a baby. All she knows is us, our family and our three kids. She’s 🌄one of our 🦂kids.”
The Cuevas have three other c🐼hildren — all humans.
The family had left Kenzie with ಌCameron’s mom and were devastated when she called around 10 a.m. on Sunday and told them the monkey🔯 had escaped into the woods outside.
“My body 🍸went cold,” Kaitlynn said. “I got chills and I just cried. ﷺIt didn’t feel like it was real. There’s no way.”
The🅠 family put a plea on social media to help search for Kenzie. Roughly 50 people responded and showed up to assist, some ♛bringing equipment like thermal cameras.
Ben Ward, a local hunter, brought his tracking dog✨s.
“I loaded up and went out there,” said Ward. “There was a whole bunch of people there already searching. We joined in with them and brought the dogs to the woods. They are unbelievable. Their ability is amazing. Their nose, from what I’ve read, is 10,000 times better than a human’s.”
The search ♔was called off around 2 a.m. after 14 hours of looking for Kenzie without a trace.
Ward went back to the search scene at daybreak and soon called Cameron with the♓ good news𝕴.
“‘We got her. S✃he’s in your mom’s arms right now,” Cameron said Ward told him.
The pet monkey had wandered back to Cameron’s mother’s house after her excursion.
“She had a good bat✤h, blow dry & is taking her a good nap,” Kaitlynn wrote in a Facebook post after Kenzie was found. “She will go t🎉o the vet here in a little while to get checked over.”
“She is tired, scared, weak but she’s home!” she added.
The couple thanked all of the volunte❀ers who helped out.
“It took a team to bring her back home, and we are more than grateful for the team that showed up to bring her home,” Cameron told WCAX. “She ain’t goඣing anywhere no more.”
