In one of the most touching Christmas reunion stories to date, a severed head, missing for nearly two weeks after being removed from its rightful owner by some thrill-seeking teens, has been located by a curious dog.

The head had been removed from a body at a Preble County, Florida, cemetery, as reported in last week's Man Bites Dog. Though slash-happy severer John P. McMurray was arrested for head-theft, by that time he'd already tired of his new toy and tossed it off a bridge.

Investigators searched the area beneath the bridge, but came up empty. Then, on one of his daily jaunts along a river bank, a black Lab named Sidney sniffed out the head, carried it home and left it in the backyard, where it was discovered by his owner's daughter. Forensics tests have yet to be completed, but investigators say they're 90 per cent sure it's the head they were looking for.

» Scott Saxon