A Brisbane family have been left devastated after their beloved dog was found dead inside in the back of their stolen car.
Nathan McKeown was visiting friends near Davidson St in Wynnum with his seven-year-old German shepherd Arnie on November 7.
Arnie was put in the back of the family ute to rest after not getting along with a kelpie belonging to McKeown’s friend.
When he left the house to return home the ute — and Arnie — were gone.
The theft prompted a police investigation and a large community initiative was started in order to find Arnie.
“He’s our family pet, we’ve been through a lot with him, we just want him back,” McKeown’s wife Louise said at the time.
“He’s very special, very.”
The desperate couple made a direct plea to the thieves, saying they just “want our dog back”.
“Please just return our dog, you can keep the ute, we don’t need the ute, we just want our pet back,” Nathan said.
“We just want to know he’s safe.”
Police said they had been “working around the clock” and following all lines of enquiry to locate Arnie and the stolen car.
Reports of Arnie sightings from members of the public took investigations across the Brisbane region and in surrounding districts, police said.
Unfortunately, the sightings were unsubstantiated.
However, on Tuesday, a page created to assist in finding the beloved pet announced the family’s biggest fears had come true.
“We sincerely want to thank everyone for all your help over the past week in the search for our boy Arnie,” they said.
“Unfortunately there isn’t a better outcome and Arnie was found yesterday deceased, still in the back of the ute that was stolen.
“We are beyond devastated. He didn’t deserve to go like this. We had the best life with him, and he is going to be so missed.”
On Friday, a member of the public located the stolen car parked on Amelia St in Fortitude Valley, police said.
Arnie was found dead inside the car.
Detective Senior Sergeant Christopher Lafferty says officers are continuing to investigate any report that may lead to locating the offender.
“We hadn’t given up hope of finding Arnie and being able to reunite him with his family,” Lafferty said.
“Investigators are devastated by this discovery and our thoughts are with the family at this difficult time.
“Officers remain committed to finding justice for Arnie and his family and will continue to investigate any report to identify and locate the offender.”
Anyone has relevant information or vision, including dashcam and CCTV, are urged to contact police.
