Family is Reunited With its Dog 30 Hours After a Tornado Hit Illinois

Amid the destruction caused by a tornado Sunday in Illinois, a touching story has managed to move hundreds of social network users.

Jon Byler Dann, an Illinois resident affected by the tornado, told his story on Facebook. He took refuge in his basement with his four children and his wife while the tornado was overhead.

His pet, a dog called Maggie, refused to exit the home, scared by the wind and the noise, and Dann had to leave her inside the house.

Hours later, when the tornado had passed, Dann and his family were worried as they found their home in ruins and their 11-year-old dog missing.

According to The Huffington Post, the Byler family started a 30-hour search for the seventh member of their family amid the chaos of the tornado's aftermath.

Just as they were about to lose hope and they began to recover their belongings from the ruins of their home on 1322 Coventry Drive, the family heard a low whimper coming from the ruins, and they immediately began to remove debris before they finally found the dog under the carpet.

Although the animal was weak and had a dislocated hip, the moving scene was captured by Weather.com photographers and quickly went viral.

The dog's owner took Maggie to the vet and shortly after uploaded a picture of her to Facebook. Maggie has been in their family since she was 4 months old.

In the picture, Dann thanked family and friends for their support in these difficult times.

You can see the pictures of the family's reunion with their dog in the following link