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Happy ending to 'dognap' mystery
23 June 2005
A WOMAN who claims she was the victim of a "dognapper" has been reunited with her pooch.
Angela O'Connor, from Blackheath, had received terrifying ransom-demand phone calls after her ruby coloured Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Wexford, went missing during a walk in Oxleas Wood, as reported in the Times.
But last Saturday, Mrs O'Connor found the dog safe and well after a woman said she had the pooch in her garage.
She explained: "Again we had received a phone call that seemed suspicious.
"A woman said she had found Wexford but didn't call until the morning after. Why?
"But we went round later that evening and found Wexford clean and fed and we were thrilled. We gave the lady £50, but she wouldn't accept it."
Wexford went missing after a family friend, Martin Stewart, took him for a walk in Oxleas Wood on June 9.
Mr Stewart received a bizarre phone call just days later from a man calling himself "James".
Mr Stewart told the Kentish Times: "It was really strange. This man sounded very young and he asked what the reward was for Wexford's return. I asked if he had the dog but he said he didn't. He kept insisting on knowing how much the reward was, but I said that the dog I wasn't going to discuss it.
"He then said to me, 'No, I don't have the dog, but I can get it'.
"I told him that we'd talk only when he had Wexford, and he then hung up."
Mrs O'Connor also received some mysterious telephone calls. Greenwich police were informed of the incidents, but said there was insufficient evidence to investigate.