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GRAIN VALLEY, Mo. — A therapy dog who appeared to have been stolen from a Grain Valley polling place on Tuesday was reunited with its owners Wednesday morning. The Herman family says Maximillian got loose and ran to the Community of Christ church next door where people were voting.

Family says they were reunited with Maximillian Wednesday morning. Maximillian was reportedly taken from a Grain Valley polling place during Missouri primaries on March 15.
Family says they were reunited with Maximillian Wednesday morning. Maximillian was reportedly taken from a Grain Valley polling place during Missouri primaries on March 15.

Poll workers tell FOX 4 the 5-year-old chihuahua was getting a closer look at people’s ballots, when a blonde woman who appeared to be in her 20’s snatched the dog and took off. The dog’s owners say they’ve invested $15,000 to get “Max” and another chihuahua named “Calista” ready to be therapy dogs for their niece.

“She is severely autistic and she has violent outbursts and we give them the dogs and she calms down right away, so it’s a miracle,” Stephanie Herman said. “I can’t believe someone would just take him, there’s houses around here so it’s kind of upsetting.”

Since the story originally aired, the family reached out to FOX 4 and said someone anonymously returned the dog Wednesday morning around 6 a.m.