There’s a Texas-size Grinch on the loose in Dallas, according to police and one shaken homeowner.
A burglar busted into a home in the northwest section of the city sometime between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Friday and made off with all of the family’s Christmas presents, some jewelry and even their pint-size pooch, Smokey, homeowner Diana Alvarado said.
“We will never stop looking for our boy Smokey!!” Alvarado posted Sunday on Facebook. “Please continue to share this story.”
A day earlier, Alvarado posted security footage showing what appeared to be a male suspect walking past a red SUV in front of her neighbor’s home at about 11:30 a.m., when he was spotted looking into a window and knocking on the door. It’s unclear, however, if the man had anything to do with the burglary.
The family is now offering a $500 reward for the safe return of the family’s 1-year-old pocket American Bully.
“People [are] sick,” one comment on Facebook read. “I sure hope [you] find your dog and the punks who did this.”
The suspect or suspects, Alvarado told KXAS, broke into the home through a bedroom window while she was at work.
“Presents can be replaced, material things can be replaced,” Alvarado told the station. “They also stole our piggy bank that we’d be saving for a long time. It was a water jug filled with coins and dollar bills, but we want our dog back. That’s the most important thing for us, is our dog.”
Alvarado told WFAA she returned home Friday and instantly knew her home had been targeted.
“There were doors open in odd places and immediately I was on alert,” she told the station. “It looks like they took everything out through the window. We found Christmas bows in the back yard and alley.”
But she insisted the stolen Christmas gifts, including presents for Alvarado’s two daughters, didn’t sting as much as losing their pet pooch.
“He’s a part of our family, a very important part,” she said of little Smokey. “They just took a member of our family.”
A message seeking comment from Dallas police was not immediately returned early Monday.
Alvarado continued: “I just hope that they can find in their heart to return Smokey.”