An American Airman stationed in Japan is facing a distressing situation as his cherished dog, Maverick, along with his vehicle, were allegedly taken by his house sitter, who is believed to have experienced a “mental break” before making off with the pet.
Andrew Beckham turned to Facebook on April 3 to share his ordeal through a Nest alert. “I’m trying to find this individual who was house-sitting for me during my Air Force deployment,” he explained. “He has ceased all communication and absconded with Maverick and my car.”
Eleven-year-old Maverick, a Siberian husky, was staying at Beckham’s residence in Aurora, Colorado, under the care of the hired house sitter when he was reportedly taken outside and placed into Beckham’s 2014 Subaru Forester on the night of the disappearance.
Beckham posted a photo of the suspected thief and disclosed that his security system captured the individual driving off with both his car and dog on video.
“The house sitter seems to be experiencing a paranoid mental episode and took off with my car and dog four days ago, leaving no way to contact him,” Beckham further detailed on Facebook.
In an attempt to recover his pet and vehicle, Beckham has reached out to Trusted House Sitters—a service connecting pet owners with sitters—and requested assistance in locating the missing sitter and Maverick.
“He has not been found and he has my dog,” Beckham wrote.
Doorbell camera footage captured the nighttime dog heist as the man guided the dog out the front door and into the driveway, according to an image obtained by Fox 31 Denver.
“It was hard to see on my camera because he was taking Maverick out at night and then going in the car without telling me where he was going,” Beckham told the outlet.
Beckham revealed he allowed the worker to stay at his house during his deployment.
An hour before vanishing, the man allegedly called 911, claiming someone was trying to break into the home.
“He seemed scared of something. I don’t know what, but he seemed really scared,” Beckham said.
Maverick weighs approximately 60 pounds, has a missing toe on his front left paw, has mild arthritis and has one blue eye and one brown eye, according to a missing dog poster shared by Beckham.
“I feel like I’ve lost a part of home. Like there’s a hole in my chest where he should be. Maverick has been with me through deployments, through long days, through lonely nights. Losing him, it’s just heartbreaking,” he told the outlet.
The pooch is microchipped and is listed on several lost pet sites.
Beckham warned people to “not chase, call or whistle as this may cause them to run in fear and into danger.”
Neighbors have joined in the search for Maverick dog and his alleged abductor, driving around the Colorado city looking for Beckham’s missing car, as other volunteers printed out missing posters and plastered them around the neighborhood.
“I’m a dog person. My husband is Air Force. So those two items just told me I needed to do something,” Beckham’s neighbor Carla Wise told Fox Denver. “I drove to the airport, looked at two different, both the west and east parking garages, drove each one for about an hour this morning to see if I could help find the car… but the dog, that’s the main thing.”
“He’s out there. We’re going to get him. We’re going to find him,” she added.
