Police are investigating a burglary at a home in Winter Harbor in which the intruder is believed to have kidnapped and then killed the homeowner’s dog.
The homeowner, Phillip Torrey, said the incident happened last week when he traveled to New Hampshire to see a concert. His sister went to his house the morning of Friday, Aug. 24, and found that someone had broken in and that Torrey’s dog Franky was missing.
According to Winter Harbor Police Chief Danny Mitchell, the dog’s body later was recovered “washed up on the shoreline.” Mitchell declined to say where along the shore the dog’s body was found, either in Winter Harbor or elsewhere, or how the dog may have been killed.
Mitchell said the case remains under investigation. He said that a sport-utility vehicle owned by Torrey also apparently was taken from the property but then later returned as part of the same incident. He estimated that whoever took the SUV caused more than $2,000 damage to it before leaving it back at Torrey’s house.
Mitchell declined to release other details about the incident, but did say he has interviewed several people and is consulting with the Hancock County District Attorney’s office about filing charges.
“We want to wrap this up as soon as we can,” Mitchell said.
Torrey said Friday that he believes he knows who is responsible but that he does not know why anyone would do such a thing. He said his dog was 6 years old and weighed only 30 pounds.
“So sad and so heartbreaking to think about how scared he must of been being taken out of his own home, put in his own vehicle, then beaten and killed,” Torrey said. “He must of been so confused.”
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