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Dog reunited with Laveen family after stolen with car

Posted at 8:11 PM, Jun 01, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-02 15:56:56-04

Ariel Tanori and her family searched every street and every neighborhood close to where their Jeep was stolen.

They had already found their SUV the same day it was stolen. This search was to find a family member taken in the car theft.

His name is Duke, and he's a dog.

Tanori left Duke sleeping in their running car while she went inside a friend’s home to say hello. When she came back outside five minutes later, Duke and the Jeep were missing.

Duke, in the week they had owned him, had already become best friends with Tanori’s 4-year-old daughter Lillee.

As you might imagine, Lillee was devastated.

"I couldn't see that look on her face that we had given up. I just did everything that I could to find him," said Tanori.

After they found the Jeep Tanori began scouring social media for signs of Duke. They eventually were tipped off to a video of a teen playing with a beagle that looked just like Duke. The Tanori’s had a hit.

They made contact with the person and alerted police. Eventually, the boy returned Duke five days after he was stolen.

"We figured out who and we tracked him down and now he's here,” said Tanori.

Lillee and Duke are now reunited. Lillee’s tears have been replaced by laughs.

Tanori says police are looking into the teen’s role in their SUV being stolen. So far there have been no arrests made.