Well, the culprits were publicly identified after a Facebook appeal was sent out by Maria herself, and all’s well that ends well – the culprits eventually returned her seven month old Pug known as Simba, and without a scratch.
Looks like Facebook has yet another happy “customer”, so to speak. This particular search by Maria was a frantic one, as she went to great lengths on the Internet to help track down Simba. It was a few days after her appeal went out when folks on Facebook contacted her, and these people claimed that they were offered a pug for sale – whom they believed it was Simba.
The local police are already aware of the situation and have opened up an investigation file on this particular matter.