Encinitas woman claimed that Amazon delivery driver had taken her dog from her yard. Now, she has been reunited to her Golden Retriever.
NBC 7 captured the moment as Finn was returned to Denise Reppenhagen outside a Clairemont Petco.
I don’t know what is beyond happy, but I’m there, she exclaimed.
A viewer reportedly noticed TV coverage of Finn’s dognapping and phoned authorities, claiming to know who the driver was, according to San Diego County Sheriff’s. On October 29, sheriff’s deputies executed a search warrant at a San Diego residence and took 36-year-old Dena Vindiola into custody.
Vindiola acknowledged taking Finn, but the dog wasn’t at her house, according to SDSO. According to detectives, she works for third-party delivery companies that have contracts to deliver Amazon packages. Vindiola says she tried to give Finn to a friend first, then to her mother. But neither Finn nor her mother wanted him so she gave him away to El Centro.
According to Trish Forsythe, of Labrador Rescuers (a non-profit organization), Finn was taken into El Centro on Saturday. This happened after Finn’s shelter informed the rescue that Finn would be more comfortable there. Finn was taken to El Centro by Trish Forsythe of Labrador Rescuers, a nonprofit organization. They took care of him until Denise saw him again.
“We got notification early this morning that he had a previous owner and that’s what got this ball rolling. We got a voicemail that the owner had gotten an alert from the microchip and that we had her dog, so we made arrangements to meet up,” said Forsythe.
Forsythe stated that once dogs are received, they bring them to the vet. If they have microchips, they will register the microchip and get an alert if anyone is looking for the dog.
“We’re big advocates in microchipping your dog, but registering your microchip is huge,” Forsythe said.
Reppenhagen was thrilled to be reunited and so relieved to see Finn again.
“It’s just been incredible the networking of the community. The army of community that has been searching and working together to find Finn,” she said. “This is my child. My adult children are adults and have their own lives. They’re out of the house now. So these are my children now.”
Vindiola was detained by sheriff’s deputies for grand theft and other offenses. She was taken into custody at Vista Detention Center.
Reppenhagen claimed on October 9 that her daughter arrived home a bit earlier than her. She greeted her dogs and closed the garage door. Finn had been left out, Reppenhagen was not aware of this. Reppenagen’s good boy was gone when she arrived home.
“We put up posters. I called all the shelters,” Denise Reppenhagen said.
Two weeks went by without Finn, then Reppenhagen got a tip that suggested she check her neighbor’s security cameras.
“The neighbor witnessed the Amazon driver arriving, delivering the package, and then putting the dog in her car and driving away. So, then I checked my Amazon orders and I indeed had an order,” Reppenhagen said.
Before taking off, the driver appeared to glance back towards the property.
“I was in complete disbelief,” Reppenhagen said. “I couldn’t breathe. I literally couldn’t breathe.”
Reppenhagen said she immediately contacted Amazon and filed a report with the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. Amazon confirmed that the driver was actually delivering packages to the company.
Source: NBC San Diego
