California family's missing French bulldog found 600 miles away in Mexico

March 1 (UPI) -- A French bulldog that went missing from his family's home in California's Bay Area was found four weeks later after being purchased by a man 600 miles away in Mexico.

Debbie Campbell said Brody, her emotional support dog, went missing from her San Lorenzo home Feb. 3, and despite searches of the area and photos posted by her family to social media, weeks past without any news of her lost pet.

Campbell said she was shocked to receive a phone call last week from Benjamin Gonzalez, a man who said he bought a dog matching Brody's description from a man on the street in downtown Tijuana, 600 miles from the Bay Area.

Gonzalez said family members who live in the Bay Area told him the dog he purchased looked like photos of a lost dog they had seen on social media.

Gonzalez sent Campbell a photo of Brody's identifying tattoo, confirming the canine's identity.

Gonzalez, 37, said he had lived in the Bay Area since he was a baby, but was deported from the United States two years ago and has lived alone in Tijuana ever since.

"He's from the Bay. I'm from the Bay. It was just weird," Gonzalez told KGO-TV. "I guess he was just meant to go back."

The Campbells paid Gonzalez back for the money he spent buying Brody off the street, but he declined any other reward.

"When he video called us to show us the dog, that took my breath away," Campbell said. "It's a blessing that that man called, because otherwise there's no way we could have gotten him back."

The Campbells said they don't know for sure how Brody ended up in Mexico, but they suspect he was intentionally stolen to be resold due to the breed's popularity and high price tag.