Cat that was stolen in South Philadelphia has been found and reunited with his family

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The pet cat that was stolen from his South Philadelphia neighborhood, in a catnapping that was caught on video, has been reunited with his family.

Acton News learned that two women dropped off Artemis - or Artie - at ACCT Philly as a stray on Thursday night.

The shelter had his chip in their system and the cat was identified as Artie before the shelter opened Friday morning.

Artie's owners, Andrew Mojica and Dominique Kalpakidou, came to pick him up a short time later.

They spoke to Action News earlier this week, saying Artie is like the neighborhood cat and spent most of his time outdoors visiting with friends and neighbors.

The couple adopted Artie two years ago after he kept popping up at their house.

They realized something was wrong Saturday night when they let Artie out and he didn't come home.

Surveillance video from Saturday night shows the juveniles - one on a bike and the other on foot - come onto the 1500 block of South Hicks Street in South Philadelphia around 8:15 p.m.

They pet Artie and herd him down the block. Minutes later, they grabbed him.

Kalpakidou quickly realized something was wrong.

"I checked on the AirTag on my phone and noticed that the location said City Hall," she explained.

She checked their Ring video and saw the catnapping. Mojica followed the AirTag and said he confronted a woman driving the two kids.

"She didn't want to hear anything I had to say," he said. "I said, 'You have my cat.' She said, 'We're fine. Thank you.'"

He says they removed Artie's collar and AirTag, dropping it in Hunting Park.

There has been no word on whether the people who took Artie have been identified.

A search party was being organized for this Saturday, but fortunately, that will no longer be necessary!