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Two of four stolen pit bull puppies returned to owner
2 of the 4 pit bulls stolen during a robbery last week remain missing
By Justin Wier
YOUNGSTOWN
A South Side woman has located two of four pit bull puppies stolen during a Thursday robbery.
Gina Morris told The Vindicator on Friday that she returned home from work Thursday night to find her door ajar, her house ransacked and four puppies missing.
At the time, she said she didn’t care about the TVs she lost in the burglary; she just wanted her dogs back.
On Saturday, after a day of Facebook postings and media attention, a friend got in touch with Morris to tell her she bought one of the puppies Friday on Facebook.
She purchased it for $250 and then realized it looked like one of Morris’ missing puppies.
Morris noticed a man posting a puppy to a Facebook buy, sell and trade group Friday. She contacted him and begged him to return the dogs, she said, but to no avail.
Police found another of her puppies Sunday during a traffic stop.
Police pulled over Nicholas Duecaster, 22, of Valerie Drive for driving with a suspended license.
They saw a pit bull puppy in a cage inside the car, according to a police report.
An officer matched the puppy with pictures Morris had posted on social media.
Duecaster told police he bought the puppy on Friday for $250 from a man in his 20s on South Avenue near East Avondale Avenue. The man also had another similar dog, Duecaster told police.
Morris picked up the puppy from Animal Charity on Market Street.
“It felt really good,” Morris said. “They were very happy to get reunited with their mama.”
The burglars did not take Morris’ older pit bull that gave birth to the puppies.
Two of the 8-week-old puppies remain missing.
Remy, a blue brindle, has a light blue and tan coat with a blue spot on the top of his head between his ears, Morris said.
Nova, a black brindle, is black and brown with a white stripe down her nose.
Morris said she’s working with detectives to pursue charges against the man posting the dogs to Facebook, and she’s confident she will soon find Remy and Nova.
“I’m very hopeful,” Morris said.
“We’ve been getting a lot of tips and all kinds of support from the Valley.”