'Something's not right:' Jefferson Co. woman suspects foul play after emotional support puppy disappears Wednesday
SULLIVAN, Wis. (CBS 58) -- It's only been five weeks since Caitlyn Bickler brought her English mastiff Nori home, and it's been four days since the three-month-old puppy seemingly vanished from the yard.
Bickler and her boyfriend, who both have military backgrounds and who are in the process of returning from active duty, decided to get Nori for emotional support.
"She's sweet when she wants to be and sassy when she wants to be," Bickler told CBS 58's Ellie Nakamoto-White, as she described the big personality in the small body.
Bickler added that Nori was stubborn yet smart, and became yard-trained quickly, following in the footsteps of her sister's two large, adult dogs -- Rambo and Riley.
So, she had no qualms about letting the three out for a short bathroom break around 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday, March 8, following in their normal routine.
"I looked away from the window for less than a minute and they were gone," Bickler said. "I just knew deep down in my gut that something wasn't right."
When she called for the dogs to come back, only two returned, seemingly distressed.
"It was super unusual," Bickler remembered.
HAVE YOU SEEN HER? A Jefferson Co. woman coming off of active duty is asking for help finding her emotional support English mastiff, who vanished Wednesday in #Sullivan. Why she believes her pup was stolen & how others nearby have similar stories— only on @CBS58 at 5:30? pic.twitter.com/HSgFAqUO2V
— Ellie Nakamoto-White (@ellienw_news) March 12, 2023
Bickler, her sister, other family members, and neighbors immediately formed a search party, spreading out over a half-mile radius.
But with no paw prints and no evidence, it seemed like Nori had vanished into thin air.
“They wander and they roam, but they know what home is, they don’t go far," Bickler said. "In the following days, we’ve gone as close to walking on ground two-and-a-half miles and then we had a drone with thermal cameras come and he covered, I want to say close to anywhere between a 7-to-10-mile radius of the area.”
Bickler also noted that Nori was wearing a tracking collar when she disappeared, one she's worn since she was very young.
"The only way to disable it is if you break it or take the battery out and it stopped pinging from our yard and it hasn’t pinged anywhere since," Bickler said, adding that she confirmed with the collar's company it would be highly unlikely for the dog to break it on her own. “If it happened to fall out in the woods, it would’ve pinged from the time that we all did the search.”
And she's not the only victim in the area.
Bickler's sister, Jess, said since posting about Nori's disappearance on social media, that the two have learned of at least six medium-to-large breed dogs within miles of Sullivan, who have gone missing in the last two weeks with no history of running away.
“It just seems to be a bit more than you can just call a coincidence now that multiple people are reaching out having the same thing happen," Bickler said.
The sisters are offering a $1,200 reward for Nori's safe return.
"If you took him, there are people out there that already love Nori immensely and just want nothing more than for her to come home," Bickler said. “If you have her, please, please turn her in.”
A report has been filed with the Jefferson Co. Sheriff's Department. If you have any information, call or text 414-426-8753.
To donate to Bickler's GoFundMe, click here.