Beth Lane’s move to New Jersey took an unexpected turn last week when her 9-pound Chihuahua named Daisy ran away from her friend’s house in Monmouth County. Daisy took off through an open screen door at the house where she was staying in Tinton Falls. She ran through yards, along sidewalks and across heavily trafficked streets. Lane, who is in the process of moving from Florida to Toms River, was attending a funeral last Sunday and left Daisy with her friend. On Sunday evening, the friend called Lane on the way back from the funeral with news her dog had run away. “My friend called me on my phone and screamed, ‘She got out!’” said Lane. “I immediately called Tinton Falls police.” Lane, who adopted Daisy as a pup from a rescue, was determined to find her dog. Daisy meant a lot because she was adopted on Lane’s father’s birthday to remember her dad. Lane and a friend put up posters around Tinton Falls with Daisy’s picture and her owner’s cellphone number. The signs warned not to chase or call out to the dog. Lane stood outside the Wawa handing out fliers at 3 a.m. She contacted area media to get her missing dog’s story in the news. Callers began texting and calling Lane to report seeing Daisy. One person reported that Daisy was inside the fence at Naval Weapons Station Earle, which was located near the area where the dog got out. Lane said she “staked out” the fence area. At one point, she sat outside the fence at 3 a.m. singing a tune the dog might hear. “The police stopped to check on me. I told them I couldn’t sleep, and I was trying to find my dog,” she said. She enlisted the aid of Mike Flynn, the Monmouth County Animal Officer with the Monmouth County SPCA. She also got help from John Martinez at Tri-Borough Lost Dog Search and Rescue. Later in the week, someone at the Capelli Sports Complex on Wayside Road in Tinton Falls noticed Daisy. The caller told Lane that Daisy was running by some nearby woods. “I sat and staked out the spot until 2 a.m. It just seemed so futile,” Lane said. She went into the woods to look for Daisy on Wednesday and Thursday and came out covered with a dozen ticks. Daisy wasn’t captured until Friday. Lane came back to the Capelli complex and, since there were no sports games, she laid down on a soccer field. She said she closed her eyes and began to imagine what it would be like when Daisy was home again. That’s when she heard the barking. Lane opened her eyes. Daisy was in the middle of the same soccer field. “I knew it was fight or flight, so I kept my head down and said, ‘Daisy, it’s mommy’,” Lane said. Daisy moved cautiously at first. “She came running over and she went from barking to growling, circled around me and I put my hand out,” Lane said. And in a few minutes, Daisy recognized her owner. “Then she ran over to me and stuck her face in my hair, and that’s when the recognition went from fear to familiarity and I grabbed ahold of her,” Lane said. Lane took her dog home for a bath. On Easter Sunday, she spent the morning taking down the rest of the fliers she’d posted when Daisy went missing. The dog owner said she also has invested in AirTags for Daisy’s collar and plans to buy a GPS collar. She is grateful for all of the help she received to bring Daisy home. “I heard from people from as far away as California when she went missing and they would tell me they were praying for me,” Lane said. “I can’t thank everyone enough.” Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription. Stephanie Loder may be reached at SLoder@njadvancemedia.com.