Man Is Reunited With Missing Cat After Lyft Driver's Unexpected Departure

October 4, 2023

A cat that went missing over the weekend in Austin, Texas, has been reunited with its owner.

A Lyft driver allegedly drove off with the pet.

cat reunited with owner Lyft
KEYE via CNN

Local resident Palash Pandey said he used Lyft to take his cat, Tux, to the Banfield Pet Hospital for an appointment last Saturday.

"I was sitting behind the driver and had the cat carrier on the floor of the passenger side back seat," Pandey explained. "Once we reached, I got off from the driver side door and started walking to the passenger side door to pick her up. Before I could open the door, the driver started driving. I banged on the back and passenger windows and screamed running behind him but he drove off."

Pandey made multiple attempts to contact the driver through the Lyft app but received no response. Pandey also contacted the Austin Police Department about the incident and filed a report, as well as posted about it on social media.

Around three hours after filing the police report, the driver called Pandey claiming he had no knowledge of Tux's whereabouts.

Pandey continued to post detailed, real-time updates on Reddit and Twitter throughout his search for Tux. He put up flyers all around town. A segment featuring Tux was broadcasted by a local news station, and they shared pictures of Tux on their social media profiles..

On Monday morning, investigators from Lyft informed Pandey they had found Tux.

Just got back from the vet. Tux has clean bill of health. I'm quite sure she thinks she was just playing the game stray in VR 😂 Thank you everyone for helping.
You guys have restored my faith in the community. pic.twitter.com/ehm1sTRxVV
— palash pandey (@palashp40616755) October 2, 2023

Pandey said they did not find her carrier and shared this snippet from the investigator who found her:

"Cat ran up a set of stairs on the back of the building next to it. The team was able to get her caught up at the top of the stairs and she was too scared to jump from up there. I was able to give my over shirt to the team member at top of the stairs to wrap her up in and had an extra cat carrier that I brought with me just in case."

Pandey posted a final update on Twitter and extended gratitude to everyone who had shared Tux's photos and helped disseminate information about her disappearance.

"Just got back from the vet. Tux has clean bill of health. I'm quite sure she thinks she was just playing the game Stray in VR. Thank you everyone for helping. You guys have restored my faith in the community," he said.

Watch the local news video below.