Dog strangled to death
Centerville, DE (US)

Incident Date: Monday, Oct 22, 2007
County: New Castle

Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Open

Suspect(s) Unknown - We need your help!

Police in Delaware are asking for the public's help to find a man suspected of strangling a family's dog.

Kelsey, a 4-year-old golden retriever, was found dead Monday night, in the sprawling backyard of the family's Centerville, New Castle County home.

The dog's owner returned home to find Kelsey dead underneath a large pine tree.

The family requested that their name and home not be shown.

"We sent an officer out to the scene and learned that the owner of the dog had taken the dog to veterinarian after the dog had passed away," said police Cpl. Trinidad Navarro. "The Veterinarian determined that the dog was probably strangled."

If so, New Castle County Police has video of the person responsible. The homeowner has a number of video cameras on the exterior of the home for security purposes.

"The resident there had a number of video surveillance cameras on the property. They were able to capture the person's image actually struggling with the dog," Navarro said, noting that this occurrd near where the dog was found.

The footage was captured just after 2:40 p.m., police said.

It's not clear if the dog may have prevented a burglary or if the person was simply trying to cross the family's property, NBC 10's John Blunt reported.

Police said they hope the person responsible turns himself in. If not, the department could release a photograph from the video footage later this week.

"A crime of this nature is a felony," Navarro said. "So, what we're hoping is that, if the person doesn't come forward, that he probably spoke to somebody about it. If people actually have information about what exactly happened, they should come forward."

Anyone with information is asked to call New Castle County police at 302-395-8005, visit the department's Web site or call Crimestoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333.

If you have information on this case, please contact:
New Castle County police
302-395-8005

References

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