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Long Island Cat Found After Missing Three Years

EAST ISLIP, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- McGee mysteriously disappeared from his Long Island home three years ago and just as mysteriously reappeared.

The 5-year-old long-haired gray-and-white cat went missing from his East Islip home on Jan. 17, 2010.

Owner Charlene Lanigan said she searched for McGee for over a year, but never saw any results.

Long Island Cat Found After Three Years

"I searched in vain for that cat," Lanigan told 1010 WINS. "I put ads in every paper, I put ads on Craigslist, there's a lost cat website, I went on there and nothing; nobody ever called."

East Islip resident Bobby Boyle found McGee in his yard after Superstorm Sandy. He searched missing pet website for notices about the fluffy feline.

McGee Missing Poster
The flyer Charlene Lanigan used three years ago to find McGee (credit: Charlene Lanigan)

He took the cat to the town shelter on Jan. 16, hoping his owner would look for him there. The shelter scanned the cat for a microchip and found Lanigan's name and number.

"My body went numb," Lanigan said. "Bobby returned him to the shelter three years to the day that he went missing. It was just amazing, absolutely amazing. He came in the house like he never left."

McGee is now back home and getting used to Lanigan's new cat named Oliver.

(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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