Little dog, big reward
Tom Hasslinger | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 14 years, 7 months AGO
<p>Jim Myers poses with his pure bred chocolate-colored Chihuahua, Bucco. Bucco went missing in February, which led to Myers receiving some strange phone calls on his missing dog. He’s offering a $1,000 reward for Bucco’s return.</p>
COEUR d’ALENE — The first clue was a phone call.
“I know who stole your dog,” the informant told Jim Myers. “We need to go steal it back.”
The dog was a pure bred chocolate Chihuahua who went missing Feb. 12.
But the suspected female thief, the informant told Jim, works at a gentlemen-friendly evening establishment, and had a stalker who might complicate any sneaky get-back plan since he was always around.
“I’m getting a little nervous,” Myers said of his first reaction. “I’m thinking, ‘I don’t want to get involved.”
Geographically, it was plausible.
The alleged suspect turned up with the tiny dog close to Cherry Hill Park, the informant told Myers, where the brown Chihuahua, Bucco, went missing with his pet’s sister Molly after the two crawled out of Myers’ back yard and went running down to the park.
After they ran away, Myers put up fliers around the neighborhood — which led to Molly’s return. And then the phone call.
“It really had me thinking this was it,” said Myers, who has also placed an ad in The Press offering a $1,000 reward for 3-year-old Bucco’s return.
The informant told Myers the suspect admitted she had found the dog, then later admitted to stealing it.
“You get really, really attached to these pets. It’s almost like a member of family,” Myers said. “You hear people say, you shouldn’t get that attached to an animal. But he’s a character, he’s a personality, he’s a part of our house.”
Instead of hatching any type of get-back plan though, Myers went to the suspect’s neighborhood looking for Bucco, but didn’t spot him.
The informant later back-tracked on her story, and then disconnected her phone, leaving Myers unable to reach his information source.
“I’m not sure,” Myers said, adding he knew that the story was bizarre. “What do you believe? My gut feeling is there is some truth in what she is telling me.”
Last weekend, he notified the Coeur d’Alene Police, who are taking the lead on the investigation.
“I’ll do anything to get this dog back,” Myers said. “It’s just been difficult all around.”
Information: 676-1569.