Husky found months after disappearing in pet detective's "most bizarre" case

Jacksonville, Florida - When the gorgeous husky Sadie disappeared at in October 2020, her owners hired a pet detective to help find her again. But the sleuth didn't just manage to track down his target – she also uncovered an incredible story!

Sadie's fur was creamy white and light brown before her disappearance.
Sadie's fur was creamy white and light brown before her disappearance.  © Collage: Screenshot/TikTok/jamiekatzpetdetective

Sadie's case was not an easy one for Florida pet detective Jamie Katz. She initially only had one clue to go on: witnesses had seen a woman bundling a dog in a red car around the time of the husky's disappearance.

When approached, the driver had apparently admitted the pooch was not her pet, while insisting that she would "get her."

"We assumed the witnesses meant that the finder would take the dog to be scanned and then returned to the owner. We never heard anything else about the woman in the little red car or the dog she found. We were always on the lookout for that car and the possibility that Sadie may have gotten in the car," Sadie's owner, Jeanine Peterson, said in post shared by Katz.

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That trail eventually went cold and more than 100 days would pass until this mystery was solved.

It was an anonymous call that broke the case wide open. The tipster supplied the exact address where the Sadie was supposedly being kept.

There was only one catch – she had gone through a pretty shocking makeover!

Sadie was given a big makeover

The dognapper dyed Sadie's fur and kept her hidden away.
The dognapper dyed Sadie's fur and kept her hidden away.  © Bildmontage: Screenshot TikTok/jamiekatzpetdetective

The caller told Katz that the dog's fur had been dyed and that the poor thing was being kept hidden away.

"Sadie is the only dog that she will not allow outside on any walks and she makes her use pee pads in order to not be seen by anyone in the neighborhood," the detective was told.

When a red car was also mentioned, everyone involved knew they'd hit the jackpot. Along with officers from the Jacksonville Police Department, they rushed to the address provided.

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The woman who answered the door denied ever seeing Sadie, but also refused to let them into her home.

Husky's owners beg for her release

In the end, it was the heartfelt pleas of Jeanine Peterson's husband that did the trick. The woman really had dognapped Sadie and she had somehow convinced herself that the dog's previous owners were no good. Only when confronted with videos of the happy home the Petersons had made for their pet did she finally give in.

"When she brought Sadie out, she was nearly unrecognizable in the dark. We had to check and make sure she had a chipped tooth to know it was her," Jeanine said. Photos show the dramatic transformation the husky had gone through. Her fur was now brown instead of creamy white, but her unusual eyes – one blue, one brown – were unmistakable.

"Sadie acted like she knew us, and she acted like Sadie, but she looked so different," the post continued.

For Jamie Katz, it was the "most bizarre case of finders keepers yet," as she wrote on TikTok, where she shared Sadie's story in a hugely popular video.

Cover photo: Collage: Screenshot/TikTok/jamiekatzpetdetective

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