AirTags help Atlanta family recover stolen car, pet dog still missing

ATLANTA - An Atlanta family isn't even able to enjoy the good news that their stolen car has been recovered, because their beloved pet dog who was in it is still somewhere out there.

"I was hurt. I was definitely hurt," said Sonya Reese. "I love her to death because that's my fur baby."

A dog may be just an animal to some. But for Reese and her son, Dior is family.

Reese said her son went inside the Cloud 9 Smoke Shop on Howell Mill Road on Oct. 12.

Cloud 9 Smoke Co. located in Atlanta.

"He walked in and noticed he didn't have his ID, and when he walked out, he noticed the car was gone," she recalled.

Dior the Shih Tzu Pomeranian mix was inside, nestled in her carrier.

While the police were on the way. The son, Anthony Reese, had a realization.

"I have two AirTags in the car, and one on the dog," he said. "As we are talking to the police, we can see that the air tag was headed to the west side of Atlanta," he said.

Anthony said the AirTags stopped at an apartment complex on Brown Lee Road.

"I looked at my son and said, 'We on the way,'" Sonya said. "We notified the officers and asked if we need to take matters into our own hands, and he shrugged and said you can."

"We get there, and the first thing that we see is the car," Anthony said.

But, Dior was nowhere to be found. Anthony said one of the AirTags appeared to be inside the apartment. But by the time police arrived, the tags had been disconnected. The family thinks police scared the suspects away.

"I got what was physically most important, but I never got what was emotionally most important to me," Anthony told FOX 5.

Atlanta police confirmed they were still looking into the case. 

If you spot Dior or have any information that can help the family, contact sonyareese@ymail.com.