As a family who fosters a lot of dogs, Trevor Vaughan and Heather Marie Francois-Vaughan have had a few escape, but none for too long.

“Strays always try to run,” said Heather, who also volunteers with PAWS New England in Barrington, Rhode Island, a group that rescues abandoned, neglected, and abused dogs from high-kill shelters. “This isn’t the first time we’ve had a dog run away.”

But Momma Dill was different. A pit bull mix, the former stray was rescued both hungry and pregnant from her hiding place underneath a house in Memphis, Tennessee. After giving birth to some puppies, they were transported to PAWS. Since then, the puppies have been adopted, but the sweet but easily scared 70-pound brown and white doggy had been living at foster parent’s So Fong Tam's home in Stoughton. Recently, Tam went on a two-week trip to China, so the Dartmouth couple took Momma Dill in temporarily.

Just four days in, Momma Dill ran away, and no one could capture her. Finally, in the early morning hours of April 30, after three weeks on the loose and tireless efforts from countless individuals, Momma Dill was caught. She's currently back at Tam's house, safe and sound.

When Momma Dill escaped from the Vaughan's back yard, a group quickly organized, and as many as fifty people at a time were out on the streets looking for her. They took to Facebook to spread the word. They posted hot pink fliers with her picture around Padanaram. People saw her, but no one could catch the dog.

“It seemed like every time we got a sighting of her, she would just run,” said Heather. “She wouldn’t let anyone get within a hundred feet of her.”

Though her history is unknown, she’s believed to be approximately five or six years old. The people at PAWS suspect she was involved in some type of high-stress situation. Her teeth have been filed down, and the tips of her ears are missing as if they were bitten off by another animal. That stress has left Momma Dill scared in some situations.

“She’s very street savvy, but she’s very, very timid,” said Heather. “If she hears a loud voice, she will drop and shudder. We’re not sure if she was in dog fighting, but clearly something traumatic happened to her. She’s the most lovable, friendly, cuddly dog. She’s just a big baby.”

Tam said that when she got the call from the Vaughans, she was worried about her because she’s so easy-going.

“She always says ‘Hi’ to other people,” said Tam. “Even when dogs are roughhousing, she’ll walk away. She’s very mellow -- so laid back. That’s why I was so worried about her. She’s too laid back.”

The group persisted. They purchased humane coyote traps and trail cameras. They visited locations where she’d been spotted. They brought in high-profile experts from out-of-town. Still, the group couldn’t get to her.

Then, after over two weeks on the road by herself, Momma Dill was spotted outside of the home of Paul and Diane Fairbanks on Wilson Street. After installing a trail camera at the house, they found out she had been visiting the home routinely every morning between 2:20 and 2:40 a.m. to eat food put out for stray cats.

“We set a camera up and surely enough, it was her,” she said. “We knew she was going there. At first, we didn’t want to encroach so she would keep returning. So we created an enclosure.”

Finally, the hunt was over, and soon after being caught, Momma Dill went back to Tam’s home, where she’ll remain until a family is found to adopt her permanently.

“I was telling Heather, ‘I go on vacation, she goes on vacation without telling everyone and decides to stay an extra week,’” said Tam, who went down the following morning to get Momma Dill, or 'M,' as she calls her. “I love her to death. She's one of the easiest foster dogs I ever had.”

Though the Vaughans were sad they couldn’t spend much more time with Momma Dill, they’re happy she’s back home, and they’re thankful for all the support they've received.

“We want to extend our thanks to everyone in the neighborhood for putting up with the extra traffic and flyers. Everyone was on the lookout,” said Trevor. “Everyone was super helpful.”