NORTH MIAMI, Fla. – A South Florida woman is desperate to find her dog after the pet was abducted from her backyard and is being held for ransom.
Natalie Lopez said she's had Choco, a 9-year-old Staffordshire pit bull, since he was 7 weeks old. Last month, she let Choco outside in her backyard as she had routinely done twice a day, every day. But that was the last she saw of him.
Choco has been missing since April 10. Lopez posted missing dog signs all over the neighborhood, hoping to find him.
"He's been with me through everything," Lopez said. "He's been with me through relationships, through moving."
Four days after placing the homemade signs with her phone number on them throughout the neighborhood, Lopez received a text message.
"This is the first picture from the first lead I was sent," Lopez, clutching a photograph of Choco, told Local 10 News reporter Erica Rakow. "It's of him in a kennel. He's missing his collar. They made sure not to show me anything distinguishable about the location."
Along with the picture came several messages.
"Hey, I know who has the dog, but I have to figure out a safe way to get my money and you your dog," one message said.
"I don't want all your money, but I need 750 (dollars) for rent," another message said.
Lopez said she wired the $750 but got no information in return.
"That was the beginning with the extortion," she said.
Lopez's torture continued Friday when she received a video of a barking and tethered Choco.
"There was a second request for the reward where they basically wanted me to meet them at midnight with $2,000 cash," Lopez said. "They told me to send them a photo of the $2,000 next to my phone."
Lopez said since she replied that she was unwilling to meet at a gas station late at night, the person sending the messages has now been silent.
The worried pet owner has filed a report with the Miami-Dade Police Department. Detectives are reviewing surveillance video of the person who picked up her money transfer from a Publix on Biscayne Boulevard.
Lopez said she isn't interested in pressing charges, though. She just wants Choco to come home.
"If you've been taking care of my dog, you deserve the reward," Lopez said. "Just bring my dog back."
Anyone with information about Choco's whereabouts is asked to call Lopez at 786-227-9663.