Stolen dog reunited with Southern California family after months-long search

A dog that was stolen after the death of its owner was reunited with its family in Southern California after a desperate four-month search.

Rhonda Beltran has been dealing with an ongoing nightmare after her brother, Steve, passed away in April, and a con woman took advantage of his estate in Arizona. Loved ones said the woman had falsely portrayed herself as Steve’s wife and was given access to his personal belongings by hospital staff. 

She went on to steal Steve’s personal belongings, his truck, thousands of dollars worth of property and his beloved dog, Dinky.

“Dinky was his life,” Beltran told KTLA’s Sandra Mitchell. “He didn’t go anywhere without Dinky.”

Family members began seeking public help in the search for Dinky, circulating the dog’s picture and their story across social media. The family said they didn’t receive any help from authorities and things were looking bleak with no leads on where Dinky might be.

Despite our efforts, including a major media and social media campaign to find Dinky and alert the public, we received no assistance from local authorities.

Then, everything changed when on Aug. 4, Beltran received a call from Keri-lyn Jakubs, the owner of I Paw’d It Forward, an animal rescue group in Washington state.

Jakup said the female suspect in Steve’s case had been arrested for grand theft auto and at the time, she had a dog with her. The dog was taken in by Jakubs who, after researching online, came across Beltran’s public pleas for Dinky’s safe return.

After providing proof that Dinky indeed belonged to Beltran’s family, plans were made to send him back home.

Denise Meaphin was already flying into LAX, so when she saw a social media post that Dinky needed help getting home to his family, she volunteered to bring him with her on her first-class flight.

“It just broke my heart when I saw that this dog had been missing for four months and his family needed him,” Jakubs said. “I would have driven here.”

On Aug. 6, all parties met up at a parking lot near LAX, exchanging hugs and a six-pound dog.

“It’s like having a piece of my brother back,” Beltran said tearfully. “With everything else that was taken from him after he passed, this is all we prayed for.”

“Our goal is to make sure families stay together,” Jakubs said. “Dinkers needed to be home.”

Now that Dinky is reunited with family, Beltran feels that she has fulfilled a promise to her late brother to protect Dinky the best she could.

“I wasn’t able to fulfill that for a long time,” she said. “Now I have Dinky and he’s where he belongs.”