One of Reppenhagen’s neighbours got the dognapping on surveillance footage, the sheriff’s department said. — Photo by Helena Lopes on Unsplash
A woman was reunited with her golden retriever three weeks after an Amazon Flex delivery driver took him from her yard, California authorities said.
Finn, an 18-month-old golden retriever, went missing from his home in Encinitas on Oct 9, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
His owner, Denise Reppenhagen, told detectives she thought he got lost when her daughter walked inside their home through the garage and closed the garage door while Finn was still outside.
She searched the neighbourhood, contacted neighbours and animal shelters, and posted and passed out flyers trying to find him.
But he wasn’t lost, the sheriff’s office said. He was taken.
One of Reppenhagen’s neighbours got the dognapping on surveillance footage, the sheriff’s department said. The video footage showed a delivery driver delivering packages in their neighbourhood, including at Reppenhagen’s home, and then shows her loading Finn into her sedan and driving off.
“My heart sank,” Reppenhagen told the San Diego Union Tribune. “I couldn’t breathe.”
After she watched the footage, Reppenhagen reported the theft to the North Coastal Sheriff’s Station, and shared the footage with local media.
Someone who recognised the suspect contacted San Diego County Sheriff’s detectives, the Times of San Diego reported. They determined the suspect worked for a third party delivery service that contracts with Amazon for deliveries.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Spokesperson Branden Baribeau told NBC 7 that the driver was suspended pending an investigation.
Authorities served a search warrant at a home in San Diego on Oct 29, the sheriff’s office said. The 36-year-old suspect allegedly admitted to stealing Finn, but the dog wasn’t at her home.
She told deputies she tried to give Finn to a friend and then to her mother, but neither wanted the dog.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department arrested the driver and booked her into jail on grand theft and other charges.
Reppenhagen told Fox 5 that Finn was turned over to an animal shelter in El Centro called Helping Hands. That organisation handed him off to a rescue called Lab Retrieve SD, but they told her the only lab in their care was one named Bear, which was based off the dog’s microchip information.
Reppenhagen told the outlet she went online and verified that the dog up for adoption there was hers. She said she believes someone adjusted Finn’s chip demographic sometime during the dognapping, which she said she found “very alarming”.
Detectives learned Finn was staying with a foster family while awaiting adoption. They arranged for the family to meet Reppenhagen at a Petco store in San Diego on Oct 30.
“It was a moment I really did not know if it was going to happen,” Reppenhagen told the San Diego Union Tribune. “I was over the moon with joy.” – The Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service
