LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A road crew in Lexington made an unusual discovery along I-75 Thursday, leading to an emotional reunion.
"I've seen bears and snakes and everything else out there, but that's the first monkey I've ever seen," said Dustin Hurst.
Hurst said he was helping clean up litter around the 99-mile marker of I-75 when something caught his eye.
"I set my sign out and I kind of eased up through there and I looked over and seen a face," Hurst said.
He had spotted a capuchin monkey along the interstate.
"It was just sitting underneath the brush there. I kind of got out and went to go see if it would come to me or not," he said. "I got some crackers out of the truck and it would come up and grab a cracker and then it would run back. It done it three or four different times. Finally, I got him a bottle of water out and poured a bottle of water in there and he drank out of it."
He called police and animal control. It turned out, the monkey had disappeared after a crash in the area Tuesday. The monkey, named Max, had run away from the vehicle it was traveling in with its family. Officials got in touch with the owners, who arrived for an emotional reunion.
"You could see the excitement on the monkey and the lady as well. She burst out in tears when she seen it. He was squalling, jumping to her. He was tickled plumb to death to see her," Hurst said. "You could tell the love that she had for the monkey and the monkey had for her,"
Hurst said the monkey appeared to have injured his arm. Lexington Police did not release any information about how the monkey was doing or where its owners had been heading when the crash happened.
