JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Thaissa Miranda’s emotional support dog Phoebe has been missing for 10 weeks, and the pain of her being gone is unbearable.
Phoebe is a 2-year-old, 60-pound Goldendoodle. She went missing on May 28 at around 7:30 p.m. on the Westside of Jacksonville near Chester Park Drive and hasn’t been seen since.
“I used to cook fresh meals. I used to take her out every day,” Miranda said. “I used to take her to parks. Have play dates with other dogs, and she was like my velcro, everywhere I went, she would follow me, you know, to the bathroom, to the bedroom too.”
Miranda is overseas for work. She had Phoebe in the care of her stepfather, who’s a disabled veteran, while she’s been gone. Phoebe got loose at the end of a walk when she spotted ducks and ran after them.
“Because of his condition. He’s on disability. He was not able to run after her, and that was when she just vanished,” she said.
Not long after Phoebe went missing neighbors banded together and posted 100s of signs all over with the hopes of bringing Phoebe home.
“Every time we get a sighting that we think might be her, we go to that neighborhood and put up flyers,” said Dianna Crocker, Miranda’s neighbor.
Multiple neighbors, including Crocker, joined in the search for Phoebe minutes after she ran off.
“Myself and quite a few other people in the community were out looking for her immediately,” Crocker said. “And she vanished within minutes, and we haven’t had a sighting in 10 weeks.”
Crocker feels that someone took Phoebe in that quick time frame.
“I think somebody’s got her. I don’t think she’s lost in the woods because we’ve had many lost dogs in this neighborhood. People drop them off all the time between dogs and cats, and we see them off and on, off and on all the time. So for Phoebe to just disappear within minutes, and not a sighting the next day, and after that, just to me, it doesn’t make sense,” Crocker said.
In addition to putting up flyers, Samantha Ahnen, community engagement manager with the Jacksonville Humane Society, said you can try putting familiar scented items outside when a pet goes missing.
“If your pet has a favorite blanket, maybe a favorite bed, maybe even something that smells like you, that can help to put that outdoors for them,” Ahnen said.
She also suggests signing up for Petco’s Love Lost program. You can upload photos of your pet for free, even if they’re not currently missing.
“It actually uses facial recognition software, and it will let you know if they’re brought to any shelter in your area. My pets are signed up for it. They don’t have to be missing to be signed up,” Ahnen said. “You can put them in there at any time, and it’s a great just kind of insurance policy to make sure if your pet were to get out, that you would be contacted if they were brought to a shelter.”
Miranda is offering a thousand-dollar reward for Phoebe’s safe return. She would even offer a new Goldendoodle puppy to whoever has her.
“We have a history together, it’s just not a dog for us,” Miranda said. “And then again, I just want her back. But if they want some privacy, if they don’t want to, if they’re afraid of coming forward, it’s okay. You know, it’s okay. I just want my baby back.”
If you have seen Phoebe, you can call 954-369-8792.