A U.S. Marine veteran from Hobart, Indiana, believes her service-dog-in-training was stolen from her front yard after not seeing him since Dec. 29.
Natalie Padilla served as a Marine from 2005 to 2009. After having symptoms of anxiety and depression, Padilla said she purchased Dart, a silk terrier-poodle mix, for emotional support when he was 10 weeks old.
Padilla last saw Dart on Dec. 29 when he was in her yard on Ash Street in Hobart at around 7:30 a.m. She said she heard barking that sounded unlike his usual bark and then there was silence.
"He is so comforting to me," Padilla said. "I really think someone stole him. You could tell the way he was barking that something was wrong."
Padilla had plans to train him to become a service dog within the year, she said. She was waiting for him to be less of a puppy before starting the training process. Dart is currently 18 months old.
Padilla said if anyone has information on Dart's location, she can be reached by emailing finddart2019@gmail.com or calling her at 219-895-6219. There is also a Facebook page with 60 members called "Help find DART" to help locate him.
Local
According to the Facebook page, the possible last sighting was at Dairy Queen in Hobart.
"I had bigger plans for Dart," Padilla wrote on Facebook. "I wanted him to become my service dog. Please help us find him."
