Several German Shepards have gone missing from the Sioux Falls area leading their owners to suspect foul play.
However, authorities do not have the evidence to incriminate any suspects. But that doesn't mean owners are giving up hope.
Stacy Rostyne says January 5th was like any other day. Before leaving for work she let her three German Shepards outside to spend the day roaming her property near Hartford.
When she got back home that night, 2-year-old Shiloh and 3-year-old Dolly were nowhere to be found.
"I figured they're still out playing in the water because they love to swim or playing in the fields because they love to do that so I figured they'd be home by the time my husband comes home." Said Rostyne.
But the two dogs never came back.
Stacy reported the disappearance to the Humane Society and continued to search for her missing pets.
She took out ads in the paper and put up posters but never heard anything regarding Shiloh and Dolly, until two weeks later.
"My cell phone was going off like mad! I thought oh good someone's found my dogs! but it was the opposite all the messages on my phone were saying their German Shepards were also missing." Said Rostyne.
Rostyne says she was contacted by the owners of 15 lost dogs. All of them disappeared in the past six weeks.
Rostyne reached out to her friend Kristen Tillotson, a dog owner who has been involved with several dog rescues.
"We've got dogs missing from Hartford, Wall Lake area, Renner and Crooks area, Colman, Chester area." Said Tillotson.
Fourteen of those dogs are German Shepards. One is a Mastiff. Both Rostyne and Tillotson believe this is much more than a coincidence and someone is specifically targeting these dogs.
"At least five of these dogs were either tied to an outside tie or in an outdoor kennel, they were taken." Said Tillotson.
Tillotson says there was even a dog stolen from the yard while the owners were home. The owners saw the thieves, jumped in the car and followed a red Ford Explorer that had their dog inside.
"When they realized they had been seen, they stopped the car in the middle of the road, so they got their dog back but someone was absolutely stealing this dog." Said Tillotson
The owners were unable to get a license number or any other description.
Whether it's for breeding, medical research, or just plain cruelty; Tillotson believes this is proof there are dog thieves in the area.
The Sioux Falls Humane Society and Minnehaha County Sheriff are aware of only a handful of the alleged dog thefts.
The Humane Society says since December they have eight reports for missing German Shepards, four of those have been found.
To them animals are considered missing not stolen, unless there is a report. The owners of many of the dogs Rostyne and Tillotson are trying to recover did not file a report with police.
Until there is harder evidence authorities say they don't believe other pets in the area are in any danger.
But the two women will continue to look.
Without any answers and without any leads, Rostyne is just holding onto hope.
"The not knowing where or what happened to them is the hardest and I just wish they'll be coming home." Said Rostyne.
The Humane Society says on average they have at least two reports of missing pets every single day. If owners report their pets missing it also helps them track their pets down faster.
