Thousands of people in Wareham have heard about Nova’s story, the escaped pit bull who went missing on Monday and ignited a town-wide search party until she came home on Friday.

Nicole Bergeron, Nova’s mom, has had the pup for two years. She got Nova at the same time as she had her son, Omari, and the two have grown up together.

“People say pit bulls are mean and I wanted to prove them wrong,” Bergeron said.

Nova had never gotten out before Dec. 4, when she escaped from the yard. Bergeron said she heard Nova screeching down the road and knew she had been hit by a car, but the driver left the scene immediately.

That night, she said at least 50 people from the neighborhood came out with flashlights to help her look for Nova. She posted on the Facebook page Wareham Matters asking people to look out for the small brown dog.

But the next day, Nova hadn’t been found. Bergeron took the day off work and searched in a four-mile radius for Nova. During her search, she found people from town who had their own dogs out looking for Nova. People she had never met before asked if her dog had been found and many people let her search their yards and sheds. Some people stayed out until midnight searching for the dog.

Some people said they had seen Nova around town, but Bergeron said she started to give up hope by the end of the week. Since Nova had never gotten out before, she didn’t think the dog would be able to find her way back home and survive outside for so long.

“It was so heartbreaking,” she said. “If she had died, I probably would have been lost. It’s like she’s one of my kids. She eats with me and sleeps with me.”

But in the morning of Dec. 8, there was a scratching at the door. Nova had found her way home, though Bergeron still doesn’t know how. She had a partially collapsed lung, a cut on her leg, her ribs were visible and a vet said she might be pregnant, but Nova is healing now and back with her family.

She was starving when she got back. Bergeron said she gained three pounds on the first day of being back because she ate so much.

“It was amazing how many people came together for my dog,” Bergeron said. Even though she hadn’t offered a reward for finding the dog, hundreds of people said they would help.

“I wish I could pay people back,” she said.

Bergeron’s family is also grateful for the help and support they received during Nova’s adventure.

“It was very touching to see everyone pull together like that,” said Bergeron’s father, Doug Bergeron. “We were very excited and happy that they were helping us out.”

The post on Wareham Matters about Nova’s return got more than 1,000 likes on Facebook from a relieved community. Nova’s on “house arrest” now, Bergeron said, and won’t be escaping again anytime soon.

“I just want to thank everybody,” Bergeron said. “I can’t believe how much people came together for just one dog.”