MikesVikes Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 link A girl's beloved dog, a grisly nightmare Crystal Brown's therapy dog disappeared. Later, the teen received his severed head gift-wrapped like a present. By Mary Lynn Smith, Star Tribune Last update: March 15, 2007 – 12:07 AM Crystal Brown's world was turned upside down a month ago when Chevy, her 4-year-old Australian shepherd mix, didn't come home. "I told him everything and he never shared any of my secrets," said Crystal, 17, who has had some troubled times in her young life. Chevy was her therapy dog, and she leaned on him for comfort and support. Two weeks ago, a gift-wrapped box was left at the house where she lives with her grandmother in St. Paul's Rice Street area. Inside the box, Crystal was horrified to find her dog's head. "This was so cruel," Crystal said Wednesday. "This is one sick, twisted person." The incident is considered so shocking that the Humane Society of the United States announced Wednesday that it was offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to an arrest and conviction. Homicide investigators are looking into the case because of the "implied" terroristic threat, St. Paul Police Sgt. Jim Gray said. "This was extraordinarily heinous," said Dale Bartlett, the Humane Society's deputy manager for animal cruelty issues. "I deal with hundreds and hundreds of cruelty cases each year. When I read about this case, it took my breath away. It's horrible." This case, Bartlett said, is far worse than a recent episode in Oshkosh, Wis., where a 49-year-old man decapitated two of his kittens because "they were annoying." Sending the dog's head to the teenager was a malicious act, Bartlett said. "That level of depravity is beyond belief." Shirley Brown, Crystal's grandmother, said that Chevy wandered off after she let him out one night in mid-February. 'It was just me and him' Crystal peppered the neighborhood with "missing" posters, and went door to door with two photos of Chevy in hopes that someone had spotted him. She rode the bus countless times to the St. Paul animal shelter and called there "thousands of times," she said. "I felt empty," Crystal said. "I couldn't talk to anyone. He was my dog. It was just me and him." Then Shirley Brown came home one day and found a box wrapped in red paper on her front steps, with batteries taped to the box. "Congratulations Crystal," the note said. "This side up. Batteries included." Shirley Brown placed the box on her granddaughter's bedroom dresser. "I was surprised and excited," Crystal said. "I thought it was a gift from my cousin." She tore off the paper and ripped open the box. Inside, she found valentine candy and a black garbage bag. And then she saw her dog's face. Crystal screamed and ran to the kitchen to find her grandmother: "Is this my dog, Grandma? No! That's not my dog? Is it my dog?" An isolated incident Gray said that investigators believe the case is an isolated incident and that the suspect knows the family. "We don't know what the motive would be," Gray said. "It's a terrible thing to do to someone's pet." Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call St. Paul police at 651-266-5659. Chevy, Crystal said, was the best friend she ever had. "He was more patient than any person I ever met. That dog waited for years for me to get myself together," said Crystal, who began to cry. "That dog didn't care what I did, what I didn't do ... what anyone did to me. He didn't care about any of that. He just wanted to love me the way I loved him." Crystal has a new puppy now, another Australian shepherd that she's named Diesel. The puppy's no Chevy. Not yet, anyway. "Hopefully, he'll be my best friend," Crystal said. Hopefully, he will be my guide through life." Mary Lynn Smith • 651-298-1550 • mlsmith@startribune.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowboutthemCowboys Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 no Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSab Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 Wacked! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage Beatings Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 It's one of the most horrible stories I've read here at the Huddle. I hope that they up the reward and somebody turns in whoever it was that did this. They are obviously dangerous and disturbed to a frightening degree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSab Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 Serial killer in training. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pope Flick Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 If I were that girl's father, this doesn't go to the police this stays on the street. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isleseeya Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 Disgusting and very sad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 If I were that girl's father, this doesn't go to the police this stays on the street. +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azazello1313 Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 somebody needs a tree-branching Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocknrobn26 Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 Every time I think it can't get any worse, it does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatman Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 Simply unbelievable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Cid Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 There are broken human beings everywhere. I've lost my ability to be amazed by things like this any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 There are broken human beings everywhere. I've lost my ability to be amazed by things like this any more. If there's one thing I've learned in my half century, it is that just when you think you've seen the bottom of human behavior, a new abyss opens below it. Misanthropes have a very valid case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HowboutthemCowboys Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 somebody needs a bullet. fixed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecerwin Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 Clever practical joke. The person who did this put a lot of creativity into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chargerz Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 Clever practical joke. The person who did this put a lot of creativity into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSab Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 Clever practical joke. The person who did this put a lot of creativity into it. Not funny care bear boy twin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MojoMan Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 Find the perp. Git a rope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vote Quimby2 Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 somebody needs a tree-branching heh. i just thought the same thing in a similar thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Codwagon Posted March 15, 2007 Share Posted March 15, 2007 meh, I didn't know the dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savage Beatings Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 They arrested a 24 year old man in this case. Lived a couple of blocks away from the girl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Country Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 They arrested a 24 year old man in this case. Lived a couple of blocks away from the girl. I say they strip him naked, cover him in steak juice and put him in a cage with a dozen starving rabid pit bulls...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.