Artemis, the South Philadelphia cat who has been missing from his home for about a week, has now been returned to his owners, they told CBS News Philadelphia.

"Someone returned them to ACCT [Philly] as a stray last night, and we are on our way home with our dear Artemis. It seems like someone got scared of all the attention and dropped him off. So, thank you so much for helping us get our boy back," owners Andrew and Dominque Mojica told CBS News Philadelphia Friday morning.

"Indescribable! We knew this day would come, and I'm just so happy it was before we had to plan a whole search party," said Andrew Mojica.

He also shared a picture of Artie napping in the car on the way home from the shelter.

The white and gray American shorthair cat had last been seen on the 1500 block of Hicks Street in a Ring camera video taken Saturday, April 26.

The video was widely shared in local Facebook groups, with many invested in tracing the cat's whereabouts. The video showed two teenage boys, one on a bicycle, petting Artie, who was wearing both a collar and an AirTag.

Minutes later, the boys were seen picking him up, shouting "We've got another one," and walking off before getting into a Dodge Durango.

The Mojicas began tracking the AirTag in North Philadelphia. Andrew Mojica said he confronted a woman driving the Dodge whom he alleged had Artie, but she noticed him and drove away.

The AirTag was abandoned that night on the 1300 block of West Hunting Park Avenue, and they found the collar the next morning.

"We were finding tips when it came to the boys, the woman. To just be returned as a stray, it was pretty clear that there was a lot of pressure building and that we were getting pretty close," said Andrew Mojica.

Neighbors and the Mojicas had chipped in for a $1,000 reward for Artie's return, no questions asked.

"You guys reached out first and really helped give us momentum to keep searching," said Dominique Mojica.

Artie is a beloved resident of his home block, often getting out and paying visits to neighbors.

ACCT Philly's Executive Director, Sarah Barnett, said two women brought Artie into the shelter on Thursday night after finding him as a stray. ACCT's director of programs and strategic initiatives saw Artie in the intake section of the shelter and recognized him, had him scanned for a chip - which had not yet occurred since he came in overnight - and confirmed he was the missing cat she had seen on TV.

"Just watching someone walk out with him, and he was just meowing. We knew right away that's him," said Andrew Mojica.

Barnett shared some tips on how shelters can reunite owners with missing pets.

"It's a good reminder of the fact that just because a pet goes missing doesn't mean the owners aren't responsible – I think we can all agree they love their cat and did all they could to be reunited," Barnett said in an email. "It's also a good reminder to think about what if that happened to your pet? Are they microchipped? Is that microchip registered? Do you have a recent photo of them to prove they are yours and/or vet records?"