Philadelphia teen charged in bizarre case of missing dog, threats

[larrymeyer]

http://www.delcotimes.com/WebApp/app..._Story_1370466

Philadelphia teen charged in bizarre case of missing dog, threats
By KATHY MATHESON, Associated Press Writer

PHILADELPHIA — The frightening midnight call normally would have awoken Bill Whiting, but he hadn’t been sleeping much since his dog disappeared. He picked up the phone and couldn’t believe what he heard.

Children were demanding $600 or else they would kill Edna, his beloved beagle mix. Whiting listened in horror to what sounded like the jingle of Edna’s collar, and an animal yelping in pain. He agreed to pay the ransom.

“You don’t understand, mister,” a boy replied. “I want to kill your dog anyway.”

What happened to Edna remains a mystery, but Philadelphia police have charged a 15-year-old with harassment, terroristic threats, theft by extortion and other counts for calling Whiting, Lt. Frank Vanore said Friday.

No animal cruelty charges were filed because police have not yet found the dog, Vanore said.
Whiting is somewhat relieved by the arrest, but does not want to rush to judgment. He says at least two children were involved.

“I want to see due process followed through,” Whiting said Friday. “I want to see this handled correctly.”

It has been more than two painful months since Edna went missing and nearly as long since Whiting received two chilling phone calls about her disappearance.

Edna, who looks like a small German shepherd, had been Whiting’s constant companion for more than 10 years. He described her as a gentle dog who loved children and had been a therapy animal at nursing homes and hospitals.

“Edna was an extremely trusting dog,” Whiting, 57, said in an earlier interview.

On Halloween, he and Edna walked about a mile from his home in downtown Philadelphia to a friend’s house for dinner. Whiting thinks she slipped out into the unfamiliar neighborhood while the door was open for trick-or-treaters.

Frantic, he looked for hours, then began printing “Missing Dog” posters and plastering them throughout the neighborhood. The posters advertised his cell phone number and a $500 reward.

Whiting said he got a few calls from people who thought they saw her, from well wishers, and from lunatics and pet psychics. He faithfully followed up each lead, but none led him to Edna.

Ten days after the dog went missing, Whiting received the midnight call on his cell phone from a youth who demanded $600 in exchange for Edna.

“I kind of knew I was in trouble right then,” Whiting said.

Then a younger boy got on the phone and ostensibly began abusing an animal. Whiting said he didn’t recognize the yelps, since he had never heard Edna hurt before, but he did detect the sound of her collar, which had numerous tags.

“She jangled like a charm bracelet. That noise was very recognizable,” he said.

Whiting begged them not to hurt the dog and, as he simultaneously dialed police from his land line, agreed to pay.

Then, according to Whiting, the boy said he wanted to kill the dog anyway.

Whiting went to a police station in the middle of the night to make a report. When he returned home a few hours later, around 3 a.m. Nov. 11, his land line rang almost immediately.

“We killed your dog,” the voice said. “It’s dead.”

Whiting was terrified. He began to believe the children really did have Edna, since the land line phone number was only on the dog tags, not the poster.

“I became hysterical,” he said. “I started to tremble.”

Police worked for the next several weeks on tracing the two calls, whose numbers came up as unavailable on Whiting’s caller ID. Publicity led to an outpouring of support for Whiting and rage against the alleged perpetrators; rewards were offered by animal advocacy groups.

On Dec. 30, police arrested the 15-year-old for allegedly making the calls. He was released to his family pending a Jan. 31 pretrial hearing in juvenile court; authorities said he is under supervision by the probation department.

Whiting remains heartbroken.

Edna remains missing.

[nijwnfi]

I say cut the female end off of an extension cord, fray the wires, plug it in and zap the little bastard a few times. He'll sing like a canary.

[Agent Smith]

I say cut the female end off of an extension cord, fray the wires, plug it in and zap the little bastard a few times. He'll sing like a canary.

Sounds good to me! Anybody who hurts animals does not deserve compassion in my opinion.

[Michele]

Send the little bastard over here, Rocky and me will take care of him!
I can't take hearing things like this. I am very sensitive when it comes to animals.
That poor man, so devastated over loosing his companion.

[bogey1]

aspiring jeffery dalmers...just what we need.

[ShakeyDad]

Send the little bastard over here, Rocky and me will take care of him!
I can't take hearing things like this. I am very sensitive when it comes to animals.
That poor man, so devastated over loosing his companion.

And if there is anything left, I have a 120 lb. doggy who's all out of chew toys.....he could use another one

[billamj]

Maybe we could take the little twit to the police academy and they could use him as a taser training dummy for a few weeks. This just plain makes me ill.

[D-FENS]

I hope he gets raped.

ETA:

/Really

[ScubaVr6]

I saw over 20 of these posters all over South Philadelphia, this guy really wanted his dog back. I can't beleive this hasn't been on the news, this is the first I've heard of it.

[ungawa]

Little punks.