Just days after being reunited with her owners, a pit bull that had been dyed black to conceal her identity escaped from her yard and was missing again Sunday, her sad owner said.
"I cried,'' said Heather Lowry.
Coco, an 8-month-old pit bull, apparentrly burrowed out of her backyard during a potty break Saturday night, Lowry said. The puppy went home this week after having been missing since Thanksgiving, when Lowry suspects someone stole her from the family's San Jacinto home.
The dog is naturally reddish-brown, with white spots on her stomach, neck and paws, but had been dyed black by whomever had possession of her during the past month, in an obvious attempt to keep her from being found.
About 9 p.m. Saturday, Lowry let Coco into the yard to go potty and she said when she went to check on her a half-hour later, she was gone. Apparently, Coco had managed to dig under a fence, as she had once before.
"The first time she got loose, she came around and sat near the front door,'' Lowry said.
No such luck, this time. News of the disappearance was first reported by the Riverside Press-Enterprise.
Lowry said she gathered a group of friends and relatives to mount a search this morning but they were unable to find Coco. She's also spread the word to neighbors and across social media.
It's the latest heartbreaking development for Lowry, who adopted Coco to help her kids cope with the deaths of two puppies birthed by her other dog, a boxer.
"My kids asked for another dog, so for Thanksgiving, we got them Coco,'' she said.
Lowry said Coco's black dye job is fading and she's more of a chocolate brown now. She also was recently spayed and still bears the surgery stitches on her stomach.
Lowry asked anyone with information about Coco to contact her directly by cell phone at 951-537-0018.
