An Encinitas woman whose dog was stolen from her yard earlier this month allegedly by an Amazon delivery driver was finally reunited with her Golden Retriever.
NBC 7 was outside a Clairemont Petco store to capture the reunion as Finn was returned to his owner, Denise Reppenhagen.
"I am beyond happy. I don't know what's beyond happy, but I'm there," she said.
San Diego County Sheriff's said a viewer saw news coverage of Finn's dognapping and contacted detectives saying she knew who the driver was. On Oct. 29, sheriff officials served a search warrant on a home in San Diego and arrested 36-year-old, Dena Vindiola.
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Vindiola admitted to stealing Finn, but the pup was not at her home, SDSO said. Detectives said they found out she works for a third-party delivery service that contracts for Amazon deliveries. Vindiola said she tried to give the dog to a friend, then to her mother, but neither wanted Finn and she turned him into an animal shelter in El Centro.
Trish Forsythe, from Labrador Rescuers, a non-profit organization, said Finn was picked up in El Centro Saturday after a shelter contacted the rescue to let them know that Finn was better off with them. Finn was then taken to a foster family who cared for him until he was reunited with Denise.
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"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 said once they receive dogs, they take them to the vet and if they are microchipped, they register that microchip and will get an alert if someone is searching for the dog.
"We're big advocates in microchipping your dog, but registering your microchip is huge," Forsythe said.
Reppenhagen was so happy and relieved to be reunited with Finn.
"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 grownups and they have their own lives. They're out of the house now. So these are my children now.”
Sheriff's deputies arrested Vindiola for grand theft and other charges. She was booked in the Vista Detention Facility.
On Oct. 9, Reppenhagen said her daughter had come home about 30 minutes before her, said hello to the dogs, and closed the garage door. She didn't realize Finn was left outside. By the time Reppenagen got home, her good boy was gone.
"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 seemed to look back toward 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 the driver was delivering packages for the company at the time.
Amazon Spokesperson Branden Baribeau responded to NBC 7 about the situation:
This is a very serious situation and I want to offer our sincerest apologies to the Reppenhagen family. We’ve offered them our full support during this difficult time, and we’ve suspended the driver involved in this incident pending the outcome of the investigation.
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