A pet donkey disappeared in California five years ago. He’s been spotted living with a herd of wild elk

When Diesel the donkey went missing near Sacramento, California, five years ago, owner Terrie Drewry assumed the worst. But then a hunter made a stunning discovery.

When Diesel the donkey ran away on a hike near his home outside Sacramento, California, five years ago, his owners assumed the worst. “He’s not aggressive, he’s a lover,” Terrie Drewry told CNN affiliate KOVR in 2019, days after Diesel’s great escape. “But right now, he’s scared.” Years passed without a sign of life from Diesel — until earlier this year, when a hunter spotted and filmed a herd of at least a dozen elk in the northern California wilderness. Among them, strangely, was a wild burro. Drewry is positive that the donkey in the hunter’s video is her Diesel. “Finally we saw him,” Drewry told KOVR this month after the Instagram video began making headlines. “Finally, we know he’s good. He’s living his best life. He’s happy. He’s healthy, and it was just a relief.” The Drewry family adopted Diesel from the Bureau of Land Management, and he lived on their ranch in peace for the first few years of his life alongside chickens, a llama and a miniature donkey.