On Thursday, July 22, a Redwing Road family reported a heartbreaking event to the Wellesley Police Department. Their 8 month black lab puppy, “Ember” was missing from their front yard. Ember had been in the front yard of their home on a tether, when she disappeared during a very short time frame.
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Wellesley Police Officers and the family inspected the tether and the clasp, and found everything to be working. While it was hard to accept that a puppy would be stolen from the front yard of a home in broad daylight, Officer Derek Harris began a criminal investigation into the matter.
Over the next few days, Officer Harris and Officer Mike Mankavech went door to door in the Redwing Road neighborhood, talking to residents and neighbors. During this canvass, Officer Harris located several dwellings with home security doorbells and cameras. Residents were extremely helpful, sharing their home security videos with Officer Harris. After reviewing footage, Officer Harris was able to determine that one vehicle in particular had circled the victim’s home a few times prior to the disappearance of Ember. Detective D’Innocenzo and Officer Harris were then able to determine the license plate of the vehicle, which was registered to a Framingham resident.
On Sunday, July 25, Officer Harris and Wellesley Police Detectives located the suspect vehicle in Framingham. After conducting a brief surveillance of the suspect’s home, they observed, in plain sight, Ember being let out into the yard from the suspect’s home.
Wellesley detectives and officers, working with Framingham Police officers, were able to successfully recover Ember and identify the involved suspects. One suspect, a 40 year old male Framingham resident, was arrested at the scene. A second suspect, a 32 year old female, also from Framingham, was identified at the scene and will be summonsed into court as well.
Both suspects will be charged with receiving stolen property over $1200, and conspiracy. The male was arraigned at Dedham District Court on Monday, July 26, 2021. The female suspect will appear in court for arraignment at a future date.
Ember was happily reunited with his family Sunday evening. We understand she is doing very well back at home with the children and family.
The Wellesley Police Department would like to thank all the citizens in the Redwing Road and Cedar Street neighborhoods that we spoke to over the course of the last few days. Without the help of the neighbors, this case would probably not have had such a great ending. The department would also like to thank Framingham Police for all their assistance and support on Sunday with the case as well.
