Woman reunites with dog after Midtown thieves steal her car with him inside

ATLANTA - Thieves stole a woman's car from a busy West Midtown shopping center parking lot with her dog inside on Saturday. But, thanks to couple of good Samaritans, that woman got her best friend back.

"I'm just so glad to have him back. I was so upset yesterday," Katrina Highsmith-Johnson told FOX 5.

After getting 13-year-old Rozay's rabies shots updated on Saturday, Highsmith-Johnson said she stopped by a couple of stores in a shopping center near Interstate 75 and Howell Mill Road around 2 p.m. When she came back outside, her 2021 black Cadillac Escalade was gone. And, so was Rozay.

"I've had him for 13 years, so I was like, 'This can't be the end of my dog.' Like, 'This can't be it,'" she said. "But the power of social media is real."

Highsmith-Johnson posted Rozay's photo online. Later the same day, she said the thieves let him out of the car near Chattachoochee Avenue, not far from the shopping center where the good Samaritans who saw her post found him.

Highsmith-Johnson told FOX 5 she was afraid she had lost her furry best friend for good. (Credit: Katrina Highsmith-Johnson)

They took the pup to the Fulton County Animal Shelter where she could pick him up the next day.

"I'm just so thankful that people did the right thing with bringing him to a safe location where I was able to retrieve him," Highsmith-Johnson said.

FOX 5 Atlanta was there when Katrina Highsmith-Johnson was reunited with 13-year-old Rozay.

It's not the first time something like this has happened in this area. In October, another car was stolen near the same shopping center with a Shih Tzu inside. That family later found the car with the help of Apple AirTags, but their dog is still missing.

Highsmith-Johnson, who blamed her "pregnancy brain," told FOX 5 she thinks she accidentally left her keys in her car.

"It's scary to think that someone was actually watching me," she said.

"Just be cautious, lock your doors. You just never know what people are into and what they're going to do," she added.

Highsmith-Johnson filed a report with the Atlanta Police Department. As of the publishing of this article, her car is still missing.