SAN ANTONIO -- "Come get them, they're yours!" was the call Peggy Riley had desperately wanted to hear for almost 18 months. She received the good news Friday from Atascosa County Sheriff's investigators and was finally reunited with her two stolen Yorkies, Baxter and Cooper. The dogs were taken during a burglary in her Stone Oak home in April 2011.
An anonymous caller pointed Riley and her private investigator, Dan Phillips, to a mobile home park in Poteet. After several days of surveillance, Riley says Phillips knocked on a mobile home and heard two "older" terriers barking and knew that had to be the right house. Atascosa County investigators went to the home Friday morning, armed with a microchip scanner, and confirmed the two called "Frankie and Coco" were actually Baxter and Cooper.
Riley says the dogs may have been with the family the whole time and the woman claimed she had received them as a gift. Riley was in shock and had actually kissed the ground when she got the good news.
Peggy says she drained her bank accounts on 40 billboards and thousands of flyers and t-shirts to find her dogs. A $10,000 reward was available for information leading to the dogs, but the anonymous caller did not want the reward, so the money was returned to the donors, Riley said.
Riley says she is grateful for the outpouring of support from the community and her Facebook page. She is now looking for "doggie daycare" for her pups so they won't be home alone again.
Detectives are still investigating this case.
