Happy Black Friday Eve

Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving, too! Here's a photo of Scooter taken one year ago on a sunny Thanksgiving morning dog walk. That's Dawson's tail at the extreme left side of the photo, and at the upper left is a flyer for Mattie the missing dog -- this was before I joined the other volunteers on the search.

Post-Dispatch runs story on Mattie

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

A year later, couple still searching for lost dog
By Matthew Hathaway
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
11/01/2007

A Michigan couple offering a $25,000 reward for the safe return of their dog haven't given up the search, but they're no closer in tracking down the animal that disappeared nearly a year ago when their car was stolen in University City.

Tom and Alice Matthews, of Grand Rapids, will continue the dog-gone effort when they return to St. Louis on Nov. 25 — the ninth time they've been back since the disappearance of Mattie, a 13-year-old white Lhasa apso-American Eskimo mixture.

"We've slowed down, but we're still getting calls" said Alice Matthews, 53, a surgical technician. "But a lot of the time, people call just to ask if all of this is for real."

Mattie is the family's first and only dog, which was last seen Nov. 7 when the Matthewses' 2001 Buick LeSabre was stolen with Mattie resting in a dog crate in the back seat.

Police found the car two days later in Cape Girardeau, Mo., but there was no sign of a dog. Mattie's traveling crate was found just west of Calvary Cemetery in St. Louis. Two St. Louis men were charged in the car theft, but they deny any involvement.

The search has proved expensive, even though no one has collected on the reward.

Tom Matthews said he and his wife, who have a grown daughter, spent $2,000 on printing "missing" posters for the inside of hundreds of buses, though an advertising company that handles the Metro account donated the wall space. The couple haven't kept track of some other costs, like copying more than 7,000 fliers and sending hundreds of mailers.

They've used just about all of their vacation time for trips to St. Louis, spending $10,000 or so on gas, meals and hotel stays. Then there are the incidental expenses, like transporting a search dog from Alabama and paying the medical costs for a volunteer bitten by a stray cat snared in a trap intended for Mattie.

"We have no regrets," said Tom Matthews, 54, who works in the accounting department of a Michigan grocery chain. "If we can get him back alive, it will have been worth it. … And I'd have no problem paying the reward."

Probably because of that munificence, the Matthewses have received dozens of tips about Mattie's whereabouts — mostly in and around Jennings, but some as far away as Arkansas and Kansas City.

The couple are getting help from Stray Rescue, the Missouri Humane Society and a hodge-podge of other volunteers, including bounty hunters, so-called animal communicators and a dog behaviorist who tried to lure Mattie using familiar scents.

The couple's top helper here is Carolyn Schaeffer, a teacher with the Special School District. Although she describes herself as "a dog lover," Schaeffer said she volunteers primarily as a gesture of hometown hospitality to right a wrong inflicted on out-of-towners.

"I think I can speak for all the volunteers when I say I was horrified when it happened," said Schaeffer, of Kirkwood. "This dog was part of their family. To think something like this could happen to visitors to St. Louis, well, it's embarrassing."

Schaeffer's telephone number, along with the Matthewses', is listed on many of the reward fliers and ads pasted in buses, shops and veterinary offices around town. She estimates that she received 300 calls last winter and spring, though she now gets only two or three tips each week.

Though Mattie remains missing, a silver lining is that searchers have found more than 50 similar-looking white dogs, all either lost or abandoned. About 40 of the animals have ended up in new homes, while the others have been returned to their owners, Schaeffer said.

The Matthewses and their helpers no longer scour neighborhoods on a hunch. But they do investigate every credible tip they receive over the phone or through their website, www.whereintheworldismattie.com.

The couple will return to St. Louis to check out a few leads that, at least at an early stage, look promising. The $25,000 reward still stands, though Tom Matthews sometimes worries that people might doubt the offer is for real because the figure is so large.

"But people who own dogs seem to understand," he said. "They don't say we're crazy … or at least not to our faces."

The couple ask that anyone with information call 616-706-6026 or 314-795-2363.

mhathaway@post-dispatch.com

Update on Mattie the missing dog

The U City Loop being named one of the 10 Great Streets in America prompts me to post an update on the search for Mattie the dog, who was in a car that was stolen from that area.

Last November, Tom & Alice Matthews were visiting St. Louis from Michigan. They parked their car in the Church's Fried Chicken parking lot at the intersection of Delmar and Skinker, with Mattie inside. After window shopping on the Loop for almost an hour, they discovered their car -- and Mattie -- gone, stolen.

Almost a year later, Mattie is still missing, despite a huge reward. His owners have made multiple trips to St. Louis to follow up on tips and leads. Visit Mattie's web site for information.

Dog still lost

The search for Mattie continues. Numerous tips and possible sightings have been received and checked out. More than thirty strays, all Mattie look-alikes to various degrees, have found new homes (including my home). I've made some new friends along the way. None of us knew each other before the search began!

The hope is that someone who doesn't know about the search nor the reward has taken Mattie into their home. So, to further help getting the word out, advertisements like this one will start appearing soon inside Bi-State buses in the St. Louis area:


Special thanks to Lamar Advertising for their assistance and community support in making this happen.

Mattie search continues; FOX-2 coverage

Please visit the Mattie web site for more information.

Effort to find Mattie intensifies

The search for Mattie continues. The reward is now $25,000.

Ch. 5 news (and reporter Jeff Small) aired an interview with Alice Matthews on the Jan. 6 10 p.m. newscast. The video is attached to this posting; click it to watch.

In addition, the Post-Dispatch's Bill McClellan has said that he might write a column about the Matthews and the quest to find their missing dog.

If you have contacts in the media and can be of assistance, your help would be greatly appreciated. We've also compiled some general information on how to help. Also, we have new flyers to print and distribute.

Much more information at the Where in the world is Mattie? web site.

Where in the world is Mattie?

Where in the world is Mattie? That's the question being asked. On this day before Christmas, the 12-year-old dog's family just wants him back home safe. Or at least some closure to the situation. See a plea from Mattie's owners, Tom & Alice Matthews, and more -- at the new web site Where in the world is Mattie?

Trying to bring Mattie home for Christmas...

12-year-old Mattie has been missing since Nov. 8. His owners' car was stolen from the U City Loop. His owners were visiting from Michigan. They were window shopping at the stores on the Loop. Mattie was in his doggie crate in the back seat. Thieves stole their car, despite it being in a well-lighted parking lot on the Loop. (Very bad PR for the Loop, btw... and where are some of the Loop powers-that-be? Are they helping to find this little dog? Are they helping to finance his reward money? I don't think so. But that's another story for another time.)

I am among the volunteers who have spent time looking for him. We are searching more today. The Jennings/North City area is where we think he is. There have been sightings of him in that area. If you have any information, or any time to help, post a comment.

Click here for related postings.

The search for Mattie goes on

The Michigan couple whose car and 12-year-old dog, Mattie, were stolen from the U City Loop on Nov. 7 continue their North St. Louis search for their little dog. The latest, from a Nov. 29 St. Louis Post-Dispatch article by Norm Parish:

Just as they have done many times over the last three weeks, Alice and Thomas Matthews of Grand Rapids, Mich., on Tuesday worked the streets and alleys of north St. Louis in search of their missing dog, Mattie.

And the results were same as they have been since Nov. 7, when the Matthewses' car, with Mattie inside, was stolen: No sightings, despite a $3,000 reward.

On Tuesday afternoon in a dusty St. Louis alley, Alice Matthews approached a teenaged male with a flier of Mattie, while her husband stapled a flier to a telephone pole.

"I haven't seen him today," the youth said. "But I saw him two weeks ago."

The Matthewses continued looking.

Their 2001 Buick LeSabre and Mattie were taken Nov. 7 while the Matthewses, on vacation, were window-shopping in the University City Loop.

The car turned up Nov. 9 in Cape Girardeau, Mo., after a police chase. But there was no sign of a dog.

Two St. Louis men, James Butler Jr., 21, and Donnell Riley, 22, have been charged in the case.

Both men deny taking the car and deny knowing anything about a 14-inch-tall, white, fluffy, mixed-breed dog, Cape Girardeau police said.

The couple was tipped to look for their dog on Harney Avenue, just west of Calvary Cemetery in north St. Louis. On Nov. 10, they found their dog's crate near an alley behind a vacant house in the 5900 block of Harney.

The couple left the crate, filled with the dog's towels, at the site, hoping it will return. They say they have received dozens of sightings of the Mattie — mostly in the Jennings and nearby St. Louis area.

The couple looked for their pet for a few days after it went missing and returned to St. Louis area on Thanksgiving to continue the search. The couple will be here until Sunday.

They are getting help from Stray Rescue, the Missouri Humane Society and about a dozen other volunteers.

"I feel for them," said Yvonne Belosi, 41, a nurse who travels nearly an hour from Hillsboro to help with the search. "They lost their car. They lost their dog. I just wanted to help them."

The Matthewses said they will continue looking for Mattie as long as they keep getting leads.

Thomas, 53, is an accountant, and his wife, Alice, 52, is a surgical technician.

"We were absolutely devastated," said Alice Matthews about the loss of their dog of about 12 years. "We just feel helpless. We first got Mattie for our daughter but he is now part of our family. But as long as there is hope we will keep looking with the help of volunteers."

Anyone with information about Mattie can call 314-369-2784.

Reward for missing Mattie is now $3,000

From the St. Louis Post-Distpatch:

This is no way to treat our visitors. Earlier this month, while Tom and Alice Matthews were visiting from Michigan, their car was stolen from the University City Loop area. Their 12-year-old dog, Mattie, was inside.

When the thieves were caught a few days later in Cape Girardeau, they said that they had left Mattie and his crate in Jennings. The crate was found, with Mattie's blankets, but there was no sign of Mattie.

The Matthewses had to return to Michigan last weekend, but they asked a family friend to continue the search. The friend contacted Stray Rescue, which is circulating fliers with a $500 reward which will be updated this weekend to a $3,000 reward of which Stray Rescue contributed $2,000.

Anyone who may have seen Mattie or who is willing to print out and distribute flyers is asked to call Stray Rescue at 314-771-6121.

snewman@post-dispatch.com