{"id":234292,"date":"2026-05-17T02:48:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T02:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/234292\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T02:48:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T02:48:25","slug":"homeless-seattle-man-finds-new-start-in-life-after-dumpster-dive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/234292\/","title":{"rendered":"Homeless Seattle man finds new start in life after dumpster dive"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Chris Engdahl spotted a bag at the bottom of a dumpster, he had no idea the discovery would change one grieving family\u2019s life \u2014 along with his own.<\/p>\n

Now, after seven years living on the streets, the 28-year-old good Samaritan has finally moved into his very first apartment.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s so happy,\u201d friend Katie Michie told The Post. \u201cThank you to everyone who is changing his life for the better. He is such a wonderful and kind person who\u2019s had a tough start in life. He deserves all the best. He\u2019s an angel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katie Mechie and Chris Engdahl \u2014 and their dogs \u2014 met up after Chris found Tia\u2019s ashes GoFundMe<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The couple were packing up their car and returned to their apartment for another load \u2014 but when they walked back outside, they were met with a nightmare.<\/p>\n

Their car window had been smashed, and their belongings stolen.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were heartbroken,\u201d Brandon told K5 News<\/a>, making a desperate public plea, hoping the thief may have tossed the items somewhere nearby. \u201cThe important things to us can\u2019t be replaced. Everything that pertains to our little girl is now missing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tia the Chihuahua was like a daughter to the Dunns. Reddit<\/p>\n

The Dunns were heartbroken when Tia\u2019s ashes were stolen, and Brandon went on TV to make a plea to the public to keep an eye out for them. Brandon Dunn<\/p>\n

Dunn said Tia was more than a pet to the happily married couple, who\u2019ve been together for 20 years, and were unable to have children.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor us, that was my child,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd now it\u2019s kind of like reliving that again. It\u2019s going to take a miracle.\u201d<\/p>\n

After hearing Brandon\u2019s story, Seattle resident Michie hung flyers around town asking people to keep an eye out for the missing keepsakes.<\/p>\n

The Dunn\u2019s kept Tia\u2019s ashes in a special box. Reddit<\/p>\n

Around the same time, Engdahl stumbled across them at the bottom of the trash.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe held onto them because he knew someone would be missing them,\u201d said Michie. \u201cA 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!\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Now, hundreds of strangers are rallying behind Engdahl, helping transform his life. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Chris Engdahl spotted a bag at the bottom of a dumpster, he had no idea the discovery…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234293,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1840,1958,77141,55007,2000,9,11,10,87478,1842,58],"class_list":["post-234292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-death","tag-dog","tag-good-deeds","tag-good-samaritan","tag-homelessness","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-rewards","tag-seattle","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}