Jewel, stolen dog

Man reunited with dog, 2 cats missing after Mishawaka burglary
By James Fillmore, WSBT-TV reporter
April 4, 2013

A couple in Mishawaka had their home burglarized Wednesday morning while they were away. A TV and computer were some of the items taken but the most valuable things missing were irreplaceable – the family pets: a dog and two cats.

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Yesterday, with the help of some nice workers at a nearby business, they got their dog back. Later one of their cats was found. And this morning the cat that remained missing came back home.

It was a long, emotional day for Junior Downer and his fiance Heather. Their home was in disarray from the burglary but all the two cared about was getting their beloved pets back.

As you walked through Junior Downer's home inside the Village Green Mobile Home Park in Mishawaka, you could tell it had been ransacked – The TV ripped from the wall, drawers pulled from out of the dresser and personal items covering the floor.

His dog Jewel along with two cats named Tex and Zoey were nowhere in sight.

Downer called Mishawaka police and filed a report.

“It was pretty heart-wrenching trying to tell the cop that, you know, my animals were gone,” he said. Especially my dog, she means a lot to me."

Little did Downer know that his dog was less than a quarter of a mile away.

Jewel had been running around 12th street when people working at Steamatic spotted her and took the dog inside.

"We've got a lot of dog lovers here in the office,” said Cindy Butt, an officer manager at the company.  “We all have animals of our own so we wouldn't want them out there."

Employees then logged on to Facebook and posted a picture of Jewel on WSBT's page in hopes of reuniting the lost dog with its owner."

 WSBT called Downer to see if the picture on our Facebook page was his dog and he confirmed it was Jewel.

Jewel and Downer were reunited Wednesday afternoon at Steamatic.

"Yeah, it stinks that my house was broken into, stuff was stolen, but as long as I've got my family – and she's a part of the family – that's what's most important," Downer says.

The office manager of Steamatic says Jewel was terrified and shivering from the cold when they found her. She did not appear to have any injuries.

Downer later his cat Tex, and around 2 a.m. Zoey came wandering back home.

Source: http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/wsbt-man-reunited-with-dog-cat-after-mishawaka-burglary-other-cat-still-missing-20130404,0,4380404.story?track=rss