For the Haskett family of Sudbury, Massachusetts, one evening turned into a nightmare when they discovered that their beloved long-haired German shepherd was missing. After reviewing their security cameras, the Haskett family was shocked and outraged.
Someone had broken into the Haskett’s home and stolen their dog Partner.
On April 9th, home security footage shows a woman in a light blue jacket walking by the Haskett’s home around 3:50 PM. She stops briefly to pet a dog, Partner, in the Haskett’s front yard who is leashed to a tree. Minutes later, the family brings Partner inside, lock the door, and leaves their home.
The woman from earlier reappears at the Haskett residence multiple times, at first alone around 5:39 PM, and then again, only this time she is accompanied by an unidentified man. They use a neighboring apartment building to gain access to the back parking lot.
Shown above, the woman attempts to break into the Haskett family’s backdoor but fails.
At 5:47 PM, the woman returns to the front of the property and is approached by another unidentified younger man. The woman and the teen boy approach the front of the property again, leaving the view of the cameras. Within minutes, the pair reemerges with Partner and simply walk away, shown in the image below.
After returning home only to realize that Partner was gone, the Hasketts frantically took to Facebook, posting pictures of their dog Partner and asking for neighbors to keep an eye out. Neal Haskett believes that the woman broke their front window, because, during the footage taken, several people glance over at the front of their house as they walk by.
Northern Life, the Sudbury community newspaper, shared Partner’s photo on social media. By the next day, dozens of tips from neighbors and Sudbury locals said to have seen Partner being walked by a woman matching the description of the same woman from the home security footage.
Miraculously, the Hasketts were able to locate this woman simply by driving around where neighbors had claimed to witnessed her and Partner. After stopping and detaining her, the Hasketts quickly phoned the police to help deal with the confrontation. The woman would not admit to breaking into the family’s property but rather claimed that she had “rescued” the dog. That’s a pretty creative description of stealing.
The woman, identified as Heather Zeffer, was arrested and charged with breaking and entering, theft, and possession of property obtained by crime and mischief.
Despite the short amount of time spent away from home, the Hasketts said it was still a ‘very emotional homecoming’. Thanks to a dedicated community newspaper and some watchful neighbors, Partner was happily reunited with his family!
If you recognize any animals reported as stolen or lost, please immediately call your local police department – you never know who’s missing their pet.
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