Derrick Beckom had left his 7-month-old pit bull puppy outside barely 10 minutes when he realized the puppy was gone.
Beckom, who is a state trooper for the Mississippi Highway Patrol, and his family have had the puppy, Zeke, since about Christmas, and in those months Zeke had never willingly left the yard. So when he didn’t respond to Beckom’s call on March 20, Beckom realized something was wrong.
“He was nowhere in the front, so I walked out, started looking around the house for him,” Beckom said. “At that point, when he was nowhere around the general area, I realized someone had possibly taken him.”
Beckom talked to several of his neighbors, who told him they didn’t know where Zeke was. Then he called the Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office, who sent deputies. Within about a day, investigators had a suspect in custody, and Zeke was back on Beckom’s front porch.
Deputies arrested Amber Keating, 22, who lives down the road from Beckom in a neighborhood just off Military Road, after multiple neighbors reported seeing a white woman dragging a dog through the neighborhood. One of the neighbors positively identified Keating.
Beckom and his wife had gotten the puppy for their son, D.J., as something he could have when he comes home from college. Beckom said the puppy, who is black and white — “At first glance, you would think he’s a Dalmatian” — is playful and loving, and the family was worried whoever stole him would try to train him to fight or be a guard dog.
“It was just real disappointing to know someone would take him from the yard,” Beckom said.
Stealing a dog is a felony charge in Mississippi, said Tony Cooper with the LCSO. He said investigators don’t know why Keating stole Zeke. The penalty upon conviction is up to two years in prison.
“I don’t know if it’s an under the influence type of thing or if she just really wanted the dog, but Beckom’s got his dog back and that’s what’s (important),” Cooper said.
Keating has been charged with one count of dog stealing and has been released from Lowndes County Adult Detention Center on $5,000 bond. But Beckom said he doesn’t know anything about that. He and his family are just happy Zeke’s home.
“He was extremely tired (when he got home) and I think maybe dehydrated and hadn’t been fed,” Beckom said. “He ate and drank a lot of water and then rested well that night.”
Beckom said his family thinks the suspect must have returned the puppy to the general area when she learned deputies were looking for him, and after being released, Zeke went straight to Beckom’s front porch.
“I really appreciate the Lowndes (sheriff’s office) and the detectives for the hard work they did, because I think what they did was the main reason that whoever took him decided to bring him back,” Beckom said. “And even to whoever took him, I just want to say I appreciate them even bringing him back.”
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