‘Such a little gem’: Indianapolis cat returns home after six-month disappearance

After nearly six months, Christine and Adam Ellis finally got the phone call they’d been waiting for: their missing cat, Moot, was alive and well.

Christine Ellis said she and her husband never lost hope throughout Moot’s gut-wrenching absence. Before her disappearance, Moot had already lived a storied life.

The Ellises first noticed a little calico near their Indianapolis house in March 2023. They began leaving out food for her. After about a month, they started calling her Moot. The couple set up a surveillance camera to make sure she was getting enough to eat. Once the Ellises finally managed to transport the cat to a vet appointment, they learned Moot was pregnant with five kittens.

The couple was about to travel to Czechia for their wedding, which would take place soon after Moot’s due date. They knew they couldn’t dedicate the time needed to newborn kitten care — a round-the-clock job — so the vet recommended a foster program with special expertise in neonatal feline care. But the Ellises already loved Moot.

“When we dropped her off for the foster care program, we wrote this multi-page letter saying how much we adored her and wanted to adopt her,” Christine Ellis said.

The kittens were adopted once they were old enough, and the Ellises officially adopted Moot in October 2023. She matured into a loving, happy cat who loves spending time around her people.

In May 2024, Christine and Adam Ellis traveled to Italy for a belated honeymoon, so Moot stayed with family members in Illinois. The couple had just flown back to Indianapolis when they learned Moot escaped her babysitters’ home by breaking through a screen door. The Ellises suspect she saw a squirrel.

The couple immediately drove to Illinois. They caught passing glances of her in the first few days of her disappearance, but they were never able to get close enough to catch her.

The Ellises were devastated. For the next six months, they put up flyers, made social media posts, and called shelters throughout Illinois. Christine Ellis estimated they heard about a potential sighting about once per month, but nothing ever panned out.

Right before Halloween, Christine Ellis’s mother posted laminated flyers throughout her neighborhood. The Ellises hoped that families might recognize Moot’s picture while out trick-or-treating.

Then, on Nov. 2, a man called about a stray calico visiting his porch. Christine Ellis asked him for a picture. She and her husband immediately recognized the distinctive freckle on the cat’s nose.

The man managed to lure Moot into his garage. His house sat only about one and a half miles from the site of her escape.

Christine and Adam Ellis drove three hours the next morning to pick up their beloved cat. Moot is now safely back at home, where she enjoys playing with her favorite blue string, cuddling and getting belly rubs.

Moot’s veterinarian gave her a clean bill of health, and she’s re-acclimating to the indoor lifestyle.

“It still feels like a shock,” Christine Ellis said. “She’s just such a little gem, and we’re so happy to have her back in our family.”