French bulldog taken at gunpoint in D.C. has been found dead

Comment on this story

Comment

Four months after a French bulldog named Bruno was stolen at gunpoint in Washington, police found the 1-year-old pup dead in neighboring Prince George’s County, according to authorities and his owner.

The bulldog was identified by his microchip, a D.C. police spokesperson said.

Police in Prince George’s County declined to comment on Bruno’s death. D.C. police will continue to investigate the incident, along with the original armed robbery, which occurred on April 13.

“They found my frenchie this morning,” Jamaica Harvey, Bruno’s owner, posted Friday on Facebook. “Unfortunately he was not alive, ppl so sick. Took a $6,000 dog & couldn’t afford to take care of him!”

During a summer of spiking violent crime in the nation’s capital — from robberies to carjackings to homicides — the theft of two dogs immediately dominated headlines, with thousands of shares online.

Bruno was stolen at gunpoint while on a walk in Brightwood Park — about 15 minutes before an 11-week-old Australian Shepherd named Pablo was also snatched outside a CVS in Shaw. Within 30 hours, police found Pablo in an apartment in Northeast Washington — along with drugs and firearms and 100 rounds of ammunition — and returned him to his owners. Four adults and three juveniles, who were also in the home, were charged with receiving stolen property.

But Bruno remained missing.

If people in the house that police raided had Pablo, a distraught Harvey told The Post in April, then “why don’t they have the other” dog?

She created a GoFundMe to raise money for a reward or to hire a private investigator. On the page, the bulldog — a gray brindle with a white chest and green eyes — is pictured with a small child and a wrapped Christmas present. Harvey raised $7,425, exceeding her $6,000 goal — but she had no leads on Bruno’s whereabouts.

“I don’t think I will ever be the same after this situation,” Harvey tweeted in April. “To be just walking your dog and have … a family member [taken] from you. Like do I still walk the same route? Do I change my schedule? So traumatizing.”

Abby Sevcik, Pablo’s owner, tweeted back at her: “the whole city is rooting for you and bruno!” She added a red heart emoji.

As the months passed, Harvey began to lose hope. She passed out fliers in the neighborhood where Bruno had gone missing, hoping he’d catch her scent and bark. She thought about putting away his bed and bucket of toys, which made her cry every time she walked past them. And online, she shared photos and videos of the pup she’d had since he was 8 weeks old.

There was Bruno, chasing a yellow soccer ball across the living room floor. Bruno in a red collar, grunting and climbing into Harvey’s lap as she tried to leave for school. Bruno in a blue-and-green plaid coat at the park, his pink tongue hanging out. Bruno in the car, licking an orange lollipop.

As the summer passed, Harvey hoped that whoever had her dog was treating him right and giving him the love and attention he deserved. She hoped that Bruno wasn’t locked in a cage somewhere. But deep down, she said in a tweet, she already knew: “my heart is telling me I will never see my boy again.”

Harvey is working to get his ashes.

Even now, she wants to bring Bruno home one last time.

Loading…