Stowaway cat who climbed into owner's Amazon box found 650 miles away in California

Cats love boxes.

It appears Galena also fancies shoes.

Galena, a curious cat from Central Utah, ended up taking an unexpected trip across state lines earlier this month after climbing inside an Amazon package being returned, according to its owner, Carrie Stephens Clark, of Lehi, a city about 30 miles south the Great Salt Lake.

In a Facebook post, Clark said on April 10, Galena mysteriously vanished.

"We searched every nook and cranny in our home, neighborhood, Jordan River Trail, and neighborhoods surrounding us for a week," Clark posted on Facebook. "We put up flyers, plastered social media. Nothing made any sense!! I was beyond devastated! Galena is a huge emotional support to me."

Hope was fading fast.

Then came the phone call.

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Cat mailed to an Amazon return center in shoe box

Seven days later, on April 17, Clark got a call from a veterinarian in California who told her Galena’s microchip had been scanned 650 miles away near the city of Riverside.

"She had jumped/hidden in one of our Amazon return packages without us knowing," Clark wrote. "She was mailed to a return center in California and trapped in a box and trailer for 6 days."

USA TODAY has reached out to Amazon.

Amazon worker discovers stowaway cat in returned shoebox

Brandy Hunter, who works in a warehouse in the customer returns department for Amazon, said a coworker discovered the stowaway in a taped closed box in the back of a trailer full of items being returned to Amazon.

The box was large and contained five pairs of work boots, Hunter told USA TODAY Thursday.

“She was absolutely terrified and distressed for sure," Hunter said, noting Galena was the "quietest" cat she had ever encountered.

"I was absolutely heartbroken to find this absolutely gorgeous cat, simply petrified and huddled in the corner of our training room," Hunter wrote in the Facebook post.

So she stepped into help find its owner.

Hunter said when she took Galena to the vet to be checked out, the doctor reported that aside from dehydration and weight loss, the cat was in good shape.

"She had nothing physically wrong...nothing broken (maybe bruised tho) but everything muscular/skeletal checked out just fine and her temp was normal," Hunter reported on social media. "We tried to get her to eat and drink but she was just too scared."

Clark and her husband traveled by plane to California to pick up Galena.

"That's when the magic happened...her owners arrived and joined us in the room! This moment was absolutely amazing," Hunter recalled of the happy reunion.

'Little and big miracles'

Last week Galena made her way home to Utah by rental car, Clark said in the post, adding she and her husband traveled 1,400 miles to get Galena home.

"I’ve had her since she was a kitten. She’s part of my everything!" Clark told USA TODAY Thursday. "We searched for her relentlessly for a week."

Clark said she couldn't believe when the vet called to tell her they found Galena in California. "I thought it was prank!"

Hunter said in her post she was grateful "to be a part of this amazingness and turn something so traumatic and unbelievable for everyone involved into something positive."

To USA TODAY, Hunter emphasized the importance of having pets microchipped. "I am so so very thankful she was chipped and I was able to locate her owners so fast! It would have taken us a while to backtrack that package!" she said.

Carter said she was "in awe of all the little and big miracles" that took place on Galena's unexpected trek across state lines.

"The side seam of her box split open so she could breathe, the weather was ideal temperatures, she was sent to Brandy’s Amazon facility who knows all about cats and knew exactly how to help her," Clark wrote. "Brandy, a microchip, and God’s grace are the reasons Galena survived."

She too, hopes pet owners will get their pets microchipped if they can. And "triple check your Amazon boxes!" Clark said.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.