DIANE SAWYER (ABC NEWS)(OC): And finally tonight, the impossibly happy ending for one family of a little cat they loved and lost, over five years, 1,800 miles. Here's ABC's John Berman.
JOHN BERMAN (ABC NEWS)(VO): The musical "Cats" ran for 18 years on Broadway. Willow the cat ran for 1,800 - miles, that is. Yes, for five years, Willow was a cat on the lam, disappearing from the Squires' home in Colorado in late 2006.
CHRIS SQUIRES (WILLOW'S OWNER): We thought she was likely eaten by a local owl or coyote.
JOHN BERMAN (ABC NEWS)(VO): While the Squires had given up Willow for lost, Willow was headed east. The exact route, we'll never know.
JOHN BERMAN (ABC NEWS)(OC): You have some secrets, don't you?
JOHN BERMAN (ABC NEWS)(VO): But it could have easily included - Whiskerville, Arkansas, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina and Garfield, New Jersey. Willow was on the prowl until this week, when she was found on the streets and turned over to a shelter.
JULIE BANK (EXECUTIVE DIR OF ANIMAL CARE AND CONTROL OF NEW YORK CITY): Her coat is great and her eyes are clear. And she's enjoying New York, I think.
JOHN BERMAN (ABC NEWS)(VO): How did they realize this was the Squires' missing Colorado cat? It was a microchip, implanted between Willow's shoulder blades that had her owner's contact information.
SQUIRE FAMILY (WILLOW'S OWNER): We never dreamed we would get her back.
JOHN BERMAN (ABC NEWS)(VO): Cat experts tell us that Willow had likely been taken in by another owner and brought along on at least part of this journey.
Cats reputedly have nine lives, and he clearly wanted to spend at least one of them here in New York City.
JOHN BERMAN (ABC NEWS)(VO): Willow is returning to Colorado soon. This cat's Broadway run not nearly as long as those cats. But safe to say she will leave behind some happy.
ACTOR ("CATS"): Memories
JOHN BERMAN (ABC NEWS)(VO): John Berman, ABC News, New York.