As of right now, no one knowns just how a tabby cat named Charles was able to travel up to 1,300 miles from its home in New Mexico to end up in Chicago. Whatever the reason, the tabby cat has earned itself a complimentary flight back home thanks to American Airlines. The cat will be sent home in a carrier that was donated by an Albuquerque business.

According to reports, Charles the cat disappeared about eight months ago while his owner was out of town and a friend was watching the cat. The cat was long believed to be dead or picked up by another family. Robin Alex, of Albuquerque, said that she was crushed. She found out while she was volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and was so upset because she was in New Orleans, and there was nothing that she could do about it.

However, just earlier this week, Alex received a phone call saying that Chicago Animal Care and Control had picked up her cat as a stray. So just how did everyone know that it was Alex’s cat? It was because the cat had a tracking microchip embedded in hits shoulder blades.

Things got worse for Alex when she found out that she would not be able to afford the round trip ticket to Chicago to bring Charles home. However, the good news is that a fellow Albuquerque resident, Lucien Sims, was moved when his mother sent him an online story about the cat. The most important thing was that Sims was on his way to Chicago for a wedding and would be able to pick up the cat and bring it back to New Mexico.

Sims was able to make all of the arrangements for Charles to return to New Mexico. This included getting a company to donate a cat carrier and American Airlines to waive the cat’s travel fee.