Rocco, schnauzer

Family reunited with missing dog
Schnauzer is one of two being sold at Jackson Heights
By Mark Bell
August 28, 2009

The Brown family of Murfreesboro was ecstatic Friday to be reunited with one of their two missing miniature schnauzers, believed stolen from a Snyder Court home they were visiting Wednesday.

After an article concerning the missing dogs, Rocco and Jemma, ran on The Daily News Journal’s Web site Thursday and in the print edition Friday, Carrie Brown said she received a call from Frank Burks, of Rutherford County.

“He called me at 10:30 p.m. last night (Thursday) ... I had already gone to sleep because I was really stressed out about the dogs and had a headache,” Brown said. “He said he had some good news for me.”

Burks proceeded to tell Carrie that he had bought a miniature schnauzer from a woman at Jackson Heights Plaza on Wednesday.

“It didn’t strike me as odd when I bought the dogs, but the woman had two of them and both didn’t have collars on them,” said Burks, who had bought the dog for his daughter. “The woman said she had bought expensive collars with rhinestones for the dogs and she said they were going to keep those collars as a reminder of the dogs.

“She said (she) had to get rid of (her) pets for financial reasons. She said she hated to do so.”

It wasn’t until Burks read The DNJ Web site Thursday that he realized something was amiss.

In Thursday’s story, Carrie explained both of the family’s dogs were inside a fence at the home on Snyder Court Tuesday evening. When she went back to check on the dogs Wednesday they were missing and both of the dog’s collars were lying on the ground outside the fence.

The “light bulb kind of went off in my head” and that’s when Burks knew something wasn’t right, he told Carrie.

Burks called the newly-bought schnauzer Rocco. Rocco responded with a bark and tail wag.

That’s when Burks knew he was dealing with one of the Browns’s missing dogs.

Burks said the woman who had Rocco and Jemma didn’t tell him her name.

“She was about 5-feet tall with shoulder-length, curly-brown hair and a slender build,” Burks said. He gave her $175 for the dog.

The Browns gave Burks $75 as consolation for returning Rocco, and Burks plans to file his own separate police report at MPD for fraud.

“I’m so thankful for what the gentleman did,” Brown said. “He is a good Samaritan. I wish we could afford to give him more.”

Even though Carrie and the rest of the Brown family are delighted to have Rocco back, they still worry about the safety and welfare of Jemma, who has been known to have seizures.

“We still want our other baby back, too,” Carrie said. “We’re almost a complete family again. Things just won’t be the same without sweet little Jemma at home, too.”

Carrie filed a report with the Murfreesboro Police Department concerning the missing dogs Friday and hopes police will aid in the effort to find Jemma and her alleged dognapper or dognappers.

Police are attempting to pull video footage from the area where Burks bought Rocco from the unknown seller. The Browns said they hope police can get a photo of the seller or the seller’s vehicle and license plate.

Source: http://www.dnj.com/article/20090828/NEWS01/90828019
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