NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – A family visiting from Florida says their beloved family dog has been found, after their pickup truck was stolen with the dog still inside Friday night (Nov. 18) in Gentilly.
Stuart Trahan said he, his wife and their 95-pound Labrador Retriever Sam (short for Samson the Great) had only spent a few minutes in the city before they were left heartbroken by New Orleans’ crime. While getting settled upon arrival for a Thanksgiving visit with their daughter, Trahan had left his 2018 Dodge Ram 2500 running as he was installing a child’s car seat in the back row next to Sam.
Suddenly, Trahan said, his truck with the dog in back began to speed away. An opportunistic thief had jumped into the driver’s seat and taken off down the 2100 block of Mirabeau Street before Trahan could react.
“I’m not worried about the truck — insurance can take care of that,” Trahan said. “But we really just want to get Sam back safe.”
The dark gray truck, which has a winch attached to its front end and a “Louisiana Tech Forestry” sticker on its back window, was stolen around 10:45 p.m., Trahan said. It wasn’t until 2 or 3 a.m. that New Orleans police arrived in response, he said. And by early Saturday afternoon, Trahan said he still was waiting to make a report to a promised property crimes detective.
Sam is a purebred Lab that is fox red in color, Trahan said. The dog is microchipped, so he can be reunited with his family if found and scanned by a veterinarian.
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