AUSTIN, Texas — It sounds like something out of a movie.
An Austin dog owner said her beloved pet was stolen by a delivery driver while she was out of town. Then she said she and a group of friends – and strangers – tracked the driver down to his home and demanded he return the dog. Now both police and the man's employer are investigating.
'I think we're detectives now'
KVUE first reported on Sunday, July 28, that Melissa Turrentine had been looking for her 6-year-old Yorkshire Terrier, Jolene, since Thursday, July 25. That's when she claims an Amazon Flex driver stole her dog.
Turrentine was out of town when Jolene escaped from the backyard of her best friend, who was watching Jolene while she was away. She and her friend were able to get security footage from neighbors, where they saw a black SUV driven by an Amazon Flex employee. Through Flex, Amazon allows drivers to use their own vehicles to make deliveries.
The video was grainy, but Turrentine said she saw Jolene in the frame, disappearing behind the car. After a few seconds, the car drove off and she couldn't see Jolene anymore. She believed the driver picked her dog up and drove off with her.
Right after Jolene went missing, Turrentine immediately boarded a flight home and began working with friends and neighbors to locate her. She filed a police report and started looking for more footage showing a better view of what happened.
She also contacted Amazon, who told her the man on the video was a Flex employee and that the company was investigating. Turrentine also offered a $1,000 reward for anyone who found Jolene, no questions asked.
But she said she wasn't just going to wait around to see if someone found her "heart and soul." She told KVUE that she and her group of civilian investigators stalked out Amazon hubs waiting for the driver to pick up packages. That didn't work, but they were able to find out the driver's name.
They searched social media but came up empty. Eventually, a woman from a rescue reached out and offered to help. Using resources she had access to, she found one address in Austin connected to a person with the same name as the driver.
"[A friend of ours] found him on TikTok, and in one of his videos was his house number that the lady gave us – the same house number of one of those addresses," Turrentine said. "And in his video was his SUV that he was driving, without the front license plate. So we knew we had the right guy. We knew we had the right address."
Turrentine said her son-in-law drove 50 miles from Liberty Hill to South Austin. Around 9:30 p.m., he arrived at the home and knocked on the door, but nobody answered – so he waited for them to come home. When they arrived, Turrentine's son-in-law confronted them with the missing flier for Jolene.
"He said, 'Where's my dog? I want this dog back.' And he goes, 'We don't have a dog,'" Turrentine said. "So he just kept lying and lying until my son-in-law said, 'We have video of your truck and you taking this dog. So we want our dog back.' And he finally fessed up and said, 'Yes, I have the dog. Let me go and get her.'"
Turrentine said her son-in-law followed the man to his front door and made sure to get Jolene back without any violence. Then he noticed her collar was missing.
"He said, 'Where’s her collar? Her collar’s gone.' And he said, 'We threw it in the trash,'" Turrentine said. "So, to me, right there is an admission of guilt. Not only was her name and phone number on that tag, but her rabies tag was on there, with her vet’s name and number. So she could’ve easily been traced any way possible.
Once Jolene was safely back with her family members, Turrentine's son-in-law drove her straight home.
'The relief is astounding'
Turrentine said one odd thing is that the people who took Jolene appear to have groomed her. Her toenails were cut, the hair between her paw pads had been trimmed and she had been bathed using some kind of unfamiliar shampoo.
Turrentine also said as soon as Jolene was safe in her son-in-law's truck, she called police with her case number and informed them she would like to press charges. She was told that information would be passed onto the detective assigned to the case.
Now she's just looking forward to what comes next. Turrentine retired this week and plans to take a Route 66 cross-country road trip soon with Jolene, her "ride-or-die," by her side. She said she's grateful to everyone who helped bring her companion back to her.
"It was awesome to know that there were so many people who are caring – people that I don’t even know and, of course, my friends and my family, who just wouldn’t stop," she said, later adding, "We totally did this with the help of friends and family, and KVUE and [Melia Masumoto] and just people we don’t know. I’m just so totally grateful."
Investigations are underway
Amazon responded to KVUE's request for comment, saying the company is happy Jolene is back home safe and that it is investigating what happened.
"We take these matters seriously and are continuing to investigate the incident," Amazon said. "We’ll take appropriate action after a thorough investigation has concluded."
Meanwhile, the Austin Police Department also confirmed there is an open investigation into this incident but, as of Tuesday morning, no arrests have been made.