You hear about burglars stealing televisions, stereo systems or -- in this case -- even a custom-made guitar. But there is only one thing that was taken that the Covingtons want back: their three-year-old dog, Charlie.
Wes and Hannah Covington are a young couple without children, and their pets are important to them.
"We don't have kids, so that's our baby right now," Hannah Covington said.
The thieves broke into their house on East Copper Village in northwest Houston Saturday morning.
"Both the front and back doors were smashed; TV was ripped off the wall; it was ransacked," Hannah Covington said.
They stole everything of value, including one of Wes Covington's autographed guitars.
"It was something that was custom-built for me; especially for me," he said.
What hurt them the most was when they found one of the family dogs missing.
"He's very friendly. He'll come right up to you. His name is Charlie. He's very well-behaved. If you tell him to sit, lay down, come, stay. He knows all that," Hannah Covington said.
Their neighbor caught a glimpse of the burglars around 11:15am Saturday, not realizing at first that anything was wrong.
"He stopped, opened the back rear door, then put the dog in," said the neighbor, who asked that we not identify her. "He saw me. Looked up and saw me."
The burglars were gone in minutes -- with Charlie.
"I'm just sick about what happened to them. Sick. I was right here," the neighbor said. "I didn't hear glass break, I didn't hear them try to break down the door."
Now, the Covingtons are left with boarded-up doors, a cloud of fear and an empty crate for Charlie.
"He's a male boxer, 75 to 80 pounds, mostly brown [with] white on his face, chest, belly and paws, and his ears are not clipped and he's unaltered," Hannah Covington said.
They're pleading with people to keep an eye out in hopes of getting him back home safely.
"That really is the only thing I want back is just my dog. Everything else, pawn it, keep it, mount the TV in your own house; I don't care. The dog is mine," Wes Covington said.
That neighbor described the men she saw. Both were in their 20s, she said. One was white and one was black with a long face and tall, slim build. She said they drove away in a small silver or gray car with a rounded front. She also noticed the suspect handling the dog was wearing a yellow glove.
Anyone with information about this crime is urged to call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
