Young boy is reunited with his puppy after Simon Cowell put up a reward
Simon Cowell put up a £10k reward to help little Edward Latter get his dog - 10 month old Morse back after it was stolen last month.
Yesterday the delighted boy discovered his dog had been found and said: 'I can't believe it, I have my best friend back. It's too late for Christmas but this is the best present ever.'
Simon Cowell is said to be over the moon Edward's 'best friend' has returned.
The £10,000 reward was offered by Simon after he read about the theft.
A source close to Simon said at the time: 'It's heartbreaking to see a little boy's Christmas ruined. Dogs are so important to so many of us. We just hope it helps lead to the safe return of Morse.'
It is thought the thieves picked up the Border Terrier to use as stud but Morse seems to have escaped his captors.
A couple 20 miles away from their home in Marden, Kent, had found a muddy dog walking through their street and thought it could be missing Morse.
They brought the bedraggled hound in, washed him, and then called Mr Latter who was unsure until he was sent a photo, and then drove the family to the village of Meopham.
The theatre carpenter, 40, said: 'Me and Amanda were still quite sceptical, but Edward saw him and recognised him straight away. He just said "Is that Morse, is Morse coming home with us".
'He was absolutely over the moon. We were still unsure if it was him though - as he wasn't responding to his name or coming to us.
'We spent about an hour and half over there and we still were not sure, so we took him home to get his chip scanned. It was only when we took him to the vets on Saturday morning and got his chip scanned that we found out for sure.
'We instantly broke down in tears, I was delirious for a few seconds, it was absolutely wonderful, we were just hugging each other, hugging Edward and hugging the dog.'
A witness spotted two men bundling Morse into the back of a van five minutes after he darted out of the family home and Mr Latter thinks he was sold as a stud.
