When Chris Engdahl spotted a bag at the bottom of a dumpster, he had no idea the discovery would change one grieving family’s life — along with his own.
Now, after seven years living on the streets, the 28-year-old good Samaritan has finally moved into his very first apartment.
“He’s so happy,” friend Katie Michie told The Post. “Thank you to everyone who is changing his life for the better. He is such a wonderful and kind person who’s had a tough start in life. He deserves all the best. He’s an angel.”
The heartwarming chain of events began on April 22, when Brandon and Holly Dunn were preparing to leave Seattle and move back home to North Carolina.
The couple were packing up their car and returned to their apartment for another load — but when they walked back outside, they were met with a nightmare.
Their car window had been smashed, and their belongings stolen.
The thief made off with items more precious than electronics or luggage: the ashes, ceramic paw prints, and memorial keepsakes of their beloved late Chihuahua, Tia.
“We were heartbroken,” Brandon told K5 News, making a desperate public plea, hoping the thief may have tossed the items somewhere nearby. “The important things to us can’t be replaced. Everything that pertains to our little girl is now missing.”
Dunn said Tia was more than a pet to the happily married couple, who’ve been together for 20 years, and were unable to have children.
“For us, that was my child,” he said. “And now it’s kind of like reliving that again. It’s going to take a miracle.”
After hearing Brandon’s story, Seattle resident Michie hung flyers around town asking people to keep an eye out for the missing keepsakes.
Around the same time, Engdahl stumbled across them at the bottom of the trash.
“He held onto them because he knew someone would be missing them,” said Michie. “A few days later, he was lucky enough to see one of the posters and get in contact with Brandon to get Tia home. When we met up so I could pick up the items to ship to Holly, he was just the kindest person!”
Engdahl never asked for a penny in return for his selfless act, but it touched the hearts of everyone who had heard about the theft.
Now, hundreds of strangers are rallying behind Engdahl, helping transform his life.
A GoFundMe, organized by Michie, has already raised more than $7,224 to help him furnish his new digs, and care for Reo, a dog he rescued while living on the streets.
