When Samantha Paulino of Arlington, Virginia, adopted a rescue dog from South Korea, she had no idea that her new pet would survive for six months on the run by herself, eluding attempts to rescue her along the way.

Paulino’s dog, Autumn, arrived in the United States in Sept. 2023. From the beginning, it was clear to the owner that Autumn had anxiety and “a tendency to let loose and just wanting to be independent.” 

Much of Autumn’s history before her rescue is unknown, Paulino told Fox News Digital in an on-camera interview. (See the video at the top of this article.) 

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The dog was estimated to be about 2 or 3 years old when she was adopted, and her breed is described as a “Finnish spitz mix.” 

“They knew that she was found in the streets [of South Korea],” Paulino said.

While Paulino experienced some of the typical growing pains associated with new dog ownership, she thought things had improved considerably by Dec. 2023. 

“She was starting to lick me, show affection. She was starting to follow me and wanting to go on walks with me,” Paulino said. 

Yet on Dec. 28, 2023, something spooked Autumn while on a walk in Arlington’s Virginia Square neighborhood — and she took off. 

Despite the dog’s small size and weight – only about 12 pounds – nobody could catch her. 

Despite her small size and weight – only about 12 pounds – nobody could catch her after that. 

“She’s a speedster. She very much runs and speeds through everything,” Paulino said. 

“So, if she gets loose and you try to chase her, she gets more frantic and just runs faster.” 

Samantha Paulino of Arlington, Virginia jumped into action once her dog went missing. She printed flyers, alerted animal control authorities and posted about her missing dog on Instagram. (Fox News Digital)

With the dog gone, Paulino jumped into action immediately — printing flyers, alerting animal control authorities and posting about her missing dog on the Instagram account @findingAutumn_. 

Sightings of Autumn were reported within days of her escape, but clever and speedy Autumn was always able to stay just out of reach of her would-be rescuers. 

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At the end of December, Autumn was spotted near Arlington National Cemetery, and after that, there were basically no sightings for about a month. 

“I can’t lie,” said Paulino. “I almost, you know, lost hope at that point.”

But then, in early February, a woman named Katie contacted Paulino to say that she thought she’d spotted Autumn at Arlington National Cemetery. The woman had been performing in a military band.

Autumn is shown here in both images. In early February, a woman said she thought she spotted Autumn at Arlington National Cemetery. (Samantha Paulino/@findingautumn/Animal Welfare League of Arlington)

Katie told Paulino she’d seen one of the lost dog flyers and was “100% sure” the dog she spotted was Autumn. 

Autumn had made a home for herself at nearby Fort Myer, an Army post.

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As it turns out, Autumn had made a home for herself at nearby Fort Myer, an Army post near Arlington National Cemetery. 

Katie, a member of the military, was able to post Autumn’s lost dog flyers throughout Fort Myer because Paulino, a civilian, was not able to get on the base to do so.

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“By the time Katie started posting flyers on the base, people on the base had started figuring out that, ‘Oh, she’s not a base dog,’” Paulino said.

“People from the military live there, so they thought that maybe she was just a dog being let loose,” she said. 

Once it was clear to residents of Fort Myer that Autumn was a lost dog with an owner who very much missed her, the Animal Welfare League of Arlington (AWLA) and its animal control team got involved. 

After AWLA officials determined Autumn’s patterns and habits, they tried to lure her into a trap. Autumn, however, was too smart for their tactics.  (Animal Welfare League of Arlington)

“They wouldn’t be able to invest their resources if there haven’t been accurate sightings of her,” Paulino said.

With the consistent sightings, the AWLA was able to establish Autumn’s patterns and habits and work from there to try to bring her home. 

A representative from the AWLA told Fox News Digital in an email about the lengths the organization went to rescue Autumn. 

“We felt confident that we could confine her.”

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“We dedicated ourselves to tending to Autumn’s needs twice a day, going on-base (with permission) to feed her at her established feeding station, observing the area for her footprints and further familiarizing ourselves with her routines,” animal control services coordinator Anna Barrett said on behalf of the AWLA.

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After nearly six months of tracking and observing Autumn, “we reached that critical point when we felt confident that we could confine her,” Barrett said.

Trapping Autumn, despite her fairly small size, posed a challenge. 

“Autumn would not be tricked into going inside a trap no matter what delicious treat sat just beyond the trip plate,” Barrett said. Instead, Autumn would sit on “her hill” and watch as her rescuers tried in vain to get her to (quite literally) take the bait.

“Autumn would not be tricked into going inside a trap no matter what delicious treat sat just beyond the trip plate.”

“Often, we’d sit quietly in our vehicles from afar and watch each other,” Barrett said. 

The AWLA tried almost everything to catch Autumn — with no success. 

Autumn even managed to evade “prototype traps that haven’t been commercially produced yet,” Paulino said. 

Finally, using a “trap inside a trap,” Autumn fell for it on June 11, Paulino said.

A regular “box trap” was placed inside a “playpen type” of trap, she said, and her dog was finally captured. 

Autumn is seen here after her long-awaited homecoming after spending months on the run.  (Samantha Paulino/@findingautumn_)

And despite Autumn’s reticence to be captured, “once trapped, Autumn settled near to her rescuers, seemingly relieved that the long, lonely struggle had finally come to an end,” Barrett told Fox News Digital.

Autumn spent the night with the AWLA to — as Paulino described it — “decompress” from her six months on the run and then was finally reunited with her on Wednesday, June 12. 

“It’s been a real process,” Paulino said. “It took a village to really get to the point where we are now.” 

Even though Autumn spent nearly six months away from home, a veterinarian checked her out and found she was no worse for wear, Paulino said.

The next couple of weeks, as Autumn gets reacquainted to living in a house and with an owner, will be crucial, Paulino said. She is continuing to work with the AWLA to help Autumn transition into being a pet again. 

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“She was the hardest, most difficult catch that they’ve ever had in [AWLA Chief of Animal Control] Jen [Toussaint]’s career,” said Paulino. “So they’re very invested in making sure that she doesn’t escape again because, especially for this next two weeks, she might really want to be out again.”

Autumn is now wearing a GPS tracker, just in case, and will be double-leashed for her walks going forward, she said.  

A man accused of killing a Louisiana mother and abducting a 4-year-old and 6-year-old has been booked into a jail in Mississippi, police said.

The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office announced on social media that officers arrested Daniel Callihan, 36, on Thursday, June 13.

Officers said that Callihan “committed brutal and heinous acts of violence” in the murders of Callie Brunett, 35, and her 4-year-old daughter, Erin.

“Our hearts are with all those affected by this tragic event. These are unspeakable crimes,” Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff Daniel Edwards said in a statement. “We ask everyone to keep Callie’s family in your prayers.”

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Authorities are searching for two children after finding their mother dead in Loranger early Thursday morning. (Louisiana State Police)

In a press conference Thursday, Jackson Police Chief Joseph Wade said that an Amber Alert was first issued on June 13 for the two trafficked children.

Four-year-old, Erin, was found dead in the woods, authorities said.

“They located a deceased child in the woods,” Wade said. “We suspect that is one of the children that he had in his possession, in his possession illegally, that he had taken away from Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana.”

The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office said that Daniel Callihan, 36, “committed brutal and heinous acts of violence” in the murders of Callie Brunett, 35, and her daughter, Erin, 4. (Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office)

The other abducted child, 6-year-old Jalie, was found injured in the woods.

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“One of the Childs, a 6-year-old, has been taken to the hospital to receive treatment,” he said. “My understanding is that the 4-year-old is deceased in the woods.”

Wade shared that officers were still trying to determine the 4-year-old’s “manner of death.”

Louisiana State Police have issued an AMBER Alert on behalf of the Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office for Erin Brunett, 3, and Jalie Brunett, 6, who went missing after their mother was found murdered inside their home. (Louisiana State Police)

Calling the scene “traumatic,” Wade thanked fellow law enforcement agencies for their assistance in the investigation.

The Jackson Police Department asked during the news conference that anyone with information related to the case come forward and contact the department at (601) 960-1234.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, vetoed a bill Friday that would have mandated that more minors accused of serious crimes automatically be tried as an adult in court.

As it currently stands, some criminal cases involving youth defendants may remain in juvenile proceedings.

House Bill 834 passed the House and Senate with significant bipartisan support before the veto from Cooper, who sided with critics of the measure who warned the changes scale back the provisions of the 2019 “Raise the Age” law that ended a mandate that children of ages 16 and 17 be tried in the adult criminal justice system.

The opposition to automatically prosecuting children in adult court was considered a way to help more young people avoid public, lifetime criminal records for one-time mistakes, while also giving them access to youth-centered resources within the juvenile system, which does not make records public.

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“I remain concerned that this new law would keep some children from getting treatment they need while making communities less safe,” Cooper wrote in his veto message.

The American Civil Liberties Union wrote in a letter to the governor ahead of his veto that prosecuting children as adults “causes significant harm to young people and does nothing to address the underlying causes of youth crime.”

“The juvenile justice system requires far more accountability, counseling, education, and family involvement than the adult system and it works better,” the letter reads. “Recidivism is significantly higher when children go through the adult system rather than receive the services and punishment from the juvenile system.”

Republican Sen. Danny Britt, who spearheaded the bill, said lawmakers worked to change the law to reflect the reality that young people charged with serious felonies ultimately ended up in adult court and that the legal efforts to move them there from juvenile court were clogging up prosecutors’ juvenile caseloads.

“From a practical standpoint this process improves efficiency in our courts,” Britt told The Associated Press, adding that he supported the “Raise the Age” legislation and still believes it was the correct move.

House Bill 834 passed the House and Senate with significant bipartisan support before the veto from the governor. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

The bill now returns to the General Assembly, where lawmakers will attempt to override the governor’s veto. Eighteen Democrats in the House and Senate combined voted with all Republicans except one in favor of the legislation.

Republicans hold veto-proof majorities in the General Assembly, and overrode all 19 of Cooper’s vetoes last year. A bill that the governor vetoed earlier this year has not yet had a vote to override the veto.

According to juvenile justice law, cases of children ages 16 and 17 accused of the most serious felonies must be moved to adult court after a notice of an indictment or when a hearing determines there is probable cause that a crime was committed. Prosecutors have discretion not to try in adult court children these ages accused of some lower-grade felonies.

H.B. 834 would have ended the transfer requirement for most of these high-level felonies, but instead placed the cases of these minors in adult court automatically.

North Carolina was the last state where minors of ages 16 and 17 were automatically prosecuted as adults when “Raise the Age” was enacted. Children these ages are still being tried in adult court for vehicle-related crimes.

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The bill now returns to the General Assembly, where lawmakers will attempt to override the governor’s veto. (Nick Ut/Getty Images)

“Most violent crimes, even when committed by teenagers, should be handled in adult court,” Cooper said. “However, there are cases where sentences would be more effective and appropriate to the severity of the crime for teenagers if they were handled in juvenile court, making communities safer. This bill makes this important option highly unlikely.”

The bill would also have established a new process in which a case could be moved from Superior Court to juvenile court if the prosecutor and the defendant’s attorney agree to the transfer, and the adult records would be deleted.

Children ages 13 through 15 who are accused of first-degree murder will still be automatically transferred to adult court after an indictment or hearing that determines probable cause.

The legislation would also have raised penalties for adults who solicit a minor to commit a crime.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.