Pasadena family being harassed by scammers who claim to have their missing dog

A Pasadena family is pleading for the return of their beloved dog Rocco, who has been missing for weeks. Since his disappearance in late February, they say that they've been harassed by a group of people who claim to have him. 

"We are not the same without our dog," said Jackie Lucca, Rocco's owner. "I know a lot of people may think like, 'He's just a dog.' But, no. A dog is part of a family."

The last time that Lucca saw Rocco, her daughter's service dog, was when he ran outside of their house for his morning walk. She says that she had her back turned to him for about 20 seconds as came outside to lock up the home. When she turned around, he was gone. 

She searched the neighborhood frantically, hopeful that the 2-year-old Rottweiler would turn up. They covered the area in posters, offering a $2,000 reward for his return. 

Soon after the posters were put up, she started to receive texts and calls. 

"Text messages that, 'We have Rocco.' and started giving us false addresses," Lucca said. 

One of the addresses led her to Palm Desert, where police investigators searched but found nothing. 

Even then, the texts didn't stop. The people behind the messages continued to torment her, taunting her about Rocco's disappearance. 

"He says,' Do you have the directions,' and then he texts me and he said, 'My buddy killed the dog. Sorry.'"

While particularly cruel, police say that it's not entirely uncommon for scammers to do this, especially if there's a money reward involved. 

Lucca says that the people reaching out to her haven't mentioned the money at all. 

"They text me and they are like, 'Oh, you want to hear your dog?' ... they call me and they hit my dog, cause you can hear him hitting the dog and crying. I know it's my dog."

She says that the harassment doesn't stop at the text messages. 

Since the incident first started, Lucca says that the person who took Rocco is stalking her and her family, and while they don't know who he is, they've seen him more than once. 

"He comes every other day. We have a surveillance camera outside so we always catch him coming and trying to open the door, talking to the camera," she said. "It's scary."

Lucca is concerned and emotionally exhausted over the entire ordeal, just hopeful that Rocco can be returned safely. 

"Bring my dog back. We miss him and we are 100% sure he misses his family."

Pasadena police investigators are investigating Rocco's disappearance and say that he is microchipped. 

Anyone with Rocco's information is urged to contact PPD.