Owner finds missing cat lost in 2008

WEBSTER, Texas (AP) - A cat that ran away during Hurricane Ike evacuation in the Galveston area has turned up more than a year later in a neighborhood not far from home.

Juliet Pennay said Simon was living with her mother in Webster, while Pennay was in Paris studying French, but was being moved to at uncle's place as Ike approached. The cat bolted.

Pennay returned home for Christmas 2009 and took walks, thinking she might see her long-lost cat. Pennay said  she was about to give up when she noticed something furry and gray near a garage.

Pennay said her "heart just stopped" when she recognized her kitty.

The animal is back with an uncle. Pennay, who has returned to France, does not know where Simon has been since Ike came ashore in September 2008.