SAN DIEGO — A family from Utah is desperate to find their Goldendoodle puppy after it was stolen from their campsite while visiting San Diego.
“We considered this dog, Chancho, to be a member of our family. We love him dearly. We miss him so much,” said owner Hannah McGuire.
She and her husband along with their 8-year-old son were vacationing from Utah when they reserved a campsite at Campland on the Bay for a weekend getaway.
All was well until the third night.
“I was worried about him getting overheated, so I left him mistakenly outside of the tent, locked in his crate there, and that night we went to bed around 1:30 a.m. after sitting by the campfire,” said McGuire. “And at 4 a.m., my husband had noticed that he was no longer in his crate. That’s when we realized, he was gone.”
That’s when panic set in as they assumed their 1-year-old Goldendoodle, Chancho, slipped out of his crate and wandered off.
They asked security to review any video footage that could help the search.
“When they came back to us later that day and said, ‘We didn’t see your dog running out, but we did see a man at 2:30 a.m. walking a dog that looked just like yours out the front gate,” said McGuire. “It was just shock and frustration, and worrying about where he’s at and who this person is who took him, you know, what are their intentions with him?”
Hannah’s family was not allowed to view the actual video footage at the time, but they were shown a screenshot.
“We just knew immediately it was him, you know, his stance, the color of his coat, the cut of his fur,” said McGuire. “Even though it was from a distance, we know 100% that it was our dog.”
As for a description of the man and his getaway car?
“Tall, African-American man, heavy-set, you know, big belly, white shirt, black beanie,” said McGuire. “He took a right onto the street, walked about halfway up the road, got in the car, and they said the car was a 4-door, dark-colored sedan.”
CBS 8 reached out to Campland and received the following statement from Chief Operating Officer, Jacob Gelfand.
“We were disappointed to learn that one of our guests has reason to suspect that their dog was taken during their recent stay at Campland on the Bay. Campland’s dedicated, 24-hour security team works hard to provide the best possible experience for families and their pets.
It is Campland’s policy to fully cooperate with law enforcement. We promptly supplied the San Diego Police Department with the requested security video footage and hope that it aids their ongoing investigation. We would be happy to share the footage with the family with authorization from the police. Campland hopes the dog is reunited with its family soon.”
Meanwhile, Hannah and her family are just hoping to find answers.
“You know, to anyone, I would just beg that you keep your eyes open for our sweet little dog and if you see him and any information at all would be so valuable to us at this point to help us locate him,” said McGuire.
If anyone has any information about their stolen Goldendoodle, Chancho, please reach out to CBS 8 at: workingforyou@cbs8.com
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