Day 24 #FindDigger Update: Sightings, Missing Signs & Staying Positive

Saturday Morning Update:

Today is day 24...and unfortunately we have nothing new to report in terms of confirmed sightings. Our 100% focus continues to be on getting our Digger back. That’s it.

With that, the Daily Herald published an update in this morning’s paper, we had 1,500 more postcards sent to residences throughout the suspected areas, and we had personal letters sent to every veterinarian within a 10 mile circle to keep an eye out & ask them to please scan any pets who come in without shot records for a microchip.

We also picked up and put in a bunch more of the nice, pricey yellow weatherproof signs. Within hours, a few of them were stolen once again. (I’ll reiterate with 100% confirmed certainty that the village is not taking them)

The best news is the way this community continues to come together to help. Nobody has given up. A month ago we were getting ready to go on vacation. We boarded our dogs, and didn’t give it another thought. But here we are now...the last 24 days being a nightmare of epic proportions...that vacation ruined, our kids last weeks of summer spent searching, every phone call another rollercoaster ride (we've had 2 calls in just the last 30 minutes with potential sightings), and very little sleep. You’ve kept us going.

As we wake up with rain this morning, our Digger is out there somewhere...and we really have no idea where. Is he safe? Is getting wet?

Almost all of you have commented on how positive we've stayed. Almost every conversation includes someone telling me how amazed they are at how we've handled this. "I would have died if it was my dog...there’s no price high enough". "I would have gone NUCLEAR". "Sue them!". Instead, I hope you agree that we’ve taken the opposite path as much as humanly possible. I've cracked a couple of times, but held it together for the most part.

There still are those out there that believe this was somehow Digger’s fault, and now my fault that we have yet to find him. I’ve attached one note I received yesterday. Yet we still manage to keep it together.

My wife & I comfort in knowing that there are so many of you who have inspired us with your messages of support, hope, and prayers. Our family loves all of you. Seriously. Tears daily. Keep searching...we are. Stay positive. We aren't giving up. We must #FindDigger. If you see him, take a picture then get a hold of me or the police.

Two Weeks Ago Today - Our Dog "Digger" Was Lost | #finddigger

Today is the two-week marker since our dog, Digger, was lost from the boarding facility responsible for watching him while we were away on vacation.  

While we've had a few new potential sightings in the past 24 hours, we're still searching.  
At this point, we have exhausted every channel to find him and get the word out.  The number of people out looking is unreal.  A woman stopped me yesterday to tell me that, after a sighting was posted on Facebook, she rushed her 3 kids into the car and drove over to help.  It's everywhere!  

If these sightings aren't him, we believe he's either entered the witness protection program, or someone has him. So please keep sharing! Here's all of the channels that we've used...and I'm sure I'm missing a couple:

1) Websites: Helpinglostpets.com, Lost Dogs Illinois, LostFoundPets.us, and many others
2) Twitter: @tcaponi
3) Facebook: "Find Digger", my page, and many, many, many other people's pages. The explosion of shares & views is amazing...thank you!
4) LinkedIn: The blog post "When Someone Loses Your Dog...and Marketing Gets Personal" has now been viewed by over 4,000 people.  
5) Instagram - @tcaponi (although I don't really do much with this channel)
6) TV - WGN TV News ran the story August 9th & 10th.
7) Newspaper - Top story on the front page of The Daily Herald on Saturday. They also posted another article about it on Monday.
8) Flyers & Signs - Started with paper signs, but now we are putting up nice, bright yellow in-the-ground signs as well. 
9) Direct Mail - We have 1,000 direct mail postcards going out to local residences this week...they're already in the mail.
10) Telemarketing - We have called 12 police stations and continue to, animal control for Cook, Lake, McHenry &  Dupage counties, shelters, veterinarians, homeless shelters, a racetrack, and so many other people it's hard to count.
11) Word-of-mouth - The amazing volunteers have been walking the streets searching from dawn until dark, talking to every dog owner they come across.
12) Car magnets - We now have cars driving around, including mine, with a magnet on both sides that has Digger & the associated info on them.

We have also had a helicopter do a search, we've had generous people providing psychic and medium sessions, trying to connect to Digger, help us understand what happened, and where he might be. We've cut up and left out our worn clothes, rattling his dog bowl, cranked YouTube videos of him howling with our kids, we've had the kids call out for him, we've hung out and played in parks with our other dogs, we've taken those other dogs on searches (one getting sprayed by a skunk), and we've still come up empty. We've also tried to enlist the help of dogs to help sniff him out, but haven't been successful in setting that up.

Again, please keep sharing. If there's something we've missed, happy to explore it. Digger is microchipped, so tell your vet friends to scan every dog that comes in without shot records. 


And, if you see Digger, DON'T CHASE HIM. Call 911, call or text me at 847-567-4550, and if you want to try to grab him, get down on the ground eye-level and call him...he's super friendly and will (pre-this experience...who knows now) come to you.  He's 40-45 pounds, a shepherd / beagle mix, brown hair w/ black & tan coloring, and his family & dog brothers really miss him.

Thank you!!!