CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A bizarre trend in a Charlotte neighborhood, multiple French Bulldogs have vanished out of thin air this week. The owners have a gut feeling their dogs are being stolen. One of those owners is NASCAR driver Joey Logano.
The Drury girls experienced pure joy when they unwrapped a birthday gift last year, Espresso the French Bulldog. But now they’re on a desperate search after Espresso and their other French bulldog Nutella went missing from their backyard on Monday.
"We've got two girls that are missing her," Sonja Drury said. "She’s family, we just want her home."
Nutella was returned Tuesday, and the Drury family is thankful, but they think something is up. The dogs haven't gotten out before, and the couple who returned Nutella said she swam all the way out to an island 3 miles away.
"They had to be picked up, period. There’s no way they swam to the island,” Ray Drury said.
Strangely enough, they're not the only ones going through this.
Tuesday, another Frenchie in the neighborhood went missing. That one belonged to NASCAR driver Joey Logano's family. He said earlier in the week he thought the dog was stolen, and Thursday tweeted their dog Luigi was found dead.
"It's just fishy, the whole thing, something happened,” Ray Drury said.
Animal services have told the Drury's that French Bulldogs are stolen more often because they're an expensive breed.
“People feel like they can sell them and make money on them and we're hoping that's not the case with Espresso,” Sonja Drury said.
They are offering a reward for Espresso with no questions asked.
Saturday, they will be going out the island with a tracking dog to see if they can pick up a scent from Espresso or Nutella, then they’ll know if the story they were told adds up.