SHORELINE, Wash. — A couple is desperately searching for their service dog, Bella, that was inside their SUV when it was stolen from outside a Shoreline business last week.
Their second service dog, Red, was also in the SUV and has since been reunited with the family as the King County Sheriff’s Office continues investigating. No arrests have been made.
“Nice to get that relief, to know we got him,” said owner Nayla Burkes, who’s offering a $1,500 reward for Bella’s return. “Now there’s hope that we’re going to get (Bella), too.”
Burkes said the SUV was stolen after she parked steps away from the entrance of her husband’s job on Aurora Avenue near 152nd Street last week, leaving both dogs in the SUV, as she went inside to quickly drop off his lunch.
“I literally never leave them other than when I drop off lunch, and it’s always two minutes,” said Burkes, who told KIRO 7 Red helps her with PTSD while Bella helps her husband with anxiety and depression. “Hey babe, here’s your lunch, we’ve got to get back home.”
Surveillance video shared with KIRO 7 shows a person walking on the sidewalk, get into the vehicle and take off south on Aurora Avenue. Several people can then be seen running after the SUV.
“I come running around the corner of the building, run straight to the red light and tried to stand in front of him,” said Dakotah Burkes, Nayla’s husband. “But I seen clearly he was going to run me over.”
Burkes said he searched the area for hours and eventually spotted his stolen SUV in North Seattle near North 143rd Street and Dayton Ave N around 1 a.m. that following morning. He said he stayed back, called police and watched from a distance as a man and a woman approached the car and took his two dogs out to use the bathroom and then put them back inside.
“I wanted to go and grab this man, give him street justice,” said Burkes. “He starts to pull off and I didn’t see any officers near, so I chased after him.”
During the chase, Burkes said police told him to stop pursuing his stolen vehicle or they would, and the suspect quickly got away.
The couple made flyers in hopes of finding the dogs and turned to social media for help. They created the hashtag #findbella on TikTok that has had 1.4 million views since last week.
Several days later, Burkes said a woman sent them a picture of their dog Red. They connected on social media and the woman agreed to meet them with Red at a pet store on Northeast 45th Street in Seattle.
“We get the dog back, her story is all over the place,” said Burkes. “Not lining up at all, not making sense at all. So, we called the police, they talked to her, wind up letting her go.”
The next day, Burkes said their stolen SUV was found trashed and abandoned in Burien.
Surveillance video shared with KIRO 7 showed a man, who Dakotah believes is the same person who stole their dogs and vehicle, ditch their SUV and steal another person’s car that had been warming up nearby.
Their recovered stolen SUV was full of trash, but Bella was not inside and is still missing.
The King County Sheriff’s Office said they’ve assigned a detective to the case as the search for Bella continues. Anonymous tips can be made to Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound.
“It doesn’t feel real at all,” said Burkes.