Joe Namath's daughter Jessica's lost dog found five years later

A LOST dog belonging to the daughter of American Gridiron football great Joe Namath has been found after five years from a home, 320 kilometres away.

A DOG that has been lost from its home for five years has been returned.

Tula, a brown Shih tzu mix, belonged to Jessica Namath, the daughter of American football great Joe Namath, when she disappeared from her home in Jupiter, Florida.

The 28-year-old Namath looked everywhere, knocking on doors, calling the highway police and animal welfare. Friends searched canals and a reward was posted which grew to $2000, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Namath even contacted three psychics to try to locate Tula. One said that Tula was still alive.

Five years later, she receives a telephone call.

"Is this Jessica?" a man asked.

"Yes," she said.

"I've got a weird question for you," the caller said. "Are you missing a dog?"

Back home after being lost for five years ... Jessica Namath with Tula. Picture: Facebook

Michael Cecere, 42, of St. Petersburg, which is over 320km away, was the caller.

He had nearly ran over the dog and took it to an animal hospital to search for a tracking chip

The chip provided a name but six phone numbers failed. Then he found the owner's number on Facebook.

"I could hear her jaw drop over the phone," said Cecere.

When Cecere gave the dog to Namath he said that Tula recognised her old owner.

How did Tula end up so far away from home?

Yanelys Miranda said she found the dog about a year after it disappeared abut 35km from St Petersburg.

"She was almost dying," Miranda said. "The poor thing."

Miranda fed the dog by hand and squirted water down her throat with a syringe. She was too weak to drink. She named the dog Lulu.

"We didn't think she had a chip in her because of the condition she was in," Miranda said.

Two years ago, Miranda and her husband moved to St. Petersburg with their children, aged 7 and 11. They must have left the gate open, Miranda said, letting Lulu get away.

She placed a "lost dog" ad on Craigs­list which is how she discovered Lulu's real identity.

Tula's loss has up her children.

"It's a huge loss for us," Miranda said. "But what can we do?"

American football great ... The Pittsburgh Steelers mob Joe Namath as he carries in the Vince Lombardi trophy after the Steelers won 27-23 against the Arizona Cardinals during Super Bowl XLIII on February 1, 2009. Picture: Doug Benc/Getty Images/AFP

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