Salinas man reunited with stolen dog after KION story airs

UPDATE (05.29.19 10:30 p.m.): In a quick turn of events, a Salinas man whose truck and dog were stolen at a 7/11 convenience store in Salinas early Sunday reunited with his dog late Monday night. Then, on Tuesday, he posted on social media that he has his truck back and nothing appears to be stolen.

Travis Plinck said he got a call at his house after a previous KION story about his ordeal aired at 10 p.m. on Monday. The call came from a man who said he had watched the news story and claimed his friend found Plinck’s dog and still has her.

“(The person who found the dog) had had her since earlier Sunday,” said Plinck. “The guy who called went over and picked up his friend and my dog and brought him over here to 7/11 and happened to see our ad that we put in the window there that had our house number.”

“They called our house and said they had the dog. So we all freaked out and got in our cars and came over here to make sure it was her, and sure enough it was her,” said Plinck.

Plinck said he was planning to go to Fort Hunter Liggett for a little fishing with his dog, Rue, early Sunday morning. He stopped by the 7/11 on South Main Street across Salinas High School to grab cereal at 4 a.m.

Nobody was around in the parking lot, so he said he left his white 2017 Dodge Ram running and ran into the store.

“While I was in there, I got a funny feeling. I looked out the window and see my truck backing up out of the parking space,” said Plinck.

He tried running after the truck, but it was too late.

“By the time I called 911 and everything, the truck was already out of town, gone,” he said.

Thousands of dollars worth of tools and items were in his truck, but Plinck said it was his female black Labrador, Rue, that he was most concerned about. Rue was in the front passenger seat when all this happened.

“I’ve had her since she was seven weeks. She’s super nice dog, very one-on-one type of dog, she loved me, I loved her,” said Plinck.

He was not sure whether the thief still had Rue or whether the thief freed her. He searched all over town the past couple days in case she was freed.

He also posted his story on the Salinas Crime Watch Facebook page, where it generated over 70 comments.

“A lot of helpful people, there’s quite a few volunteers that are out there actually looking for my dog too as well, so I’m very thankful for that,” said Plinck.

The one identifying feature of Rue: she has a bald patch on the right side of her rib cage that was shaved down to get rid of a foxtail.

Plinck said he hoped getting his story out there would bring his beloved Rue home. It looks like in this case, it definitely did.

“Truck’s, that’s replaceable, you know. The dog ain’t,” he said before the reunification.

“I don’t know who’s more excited, her or me. But between the two of us, it was a happy ending to the missing story,” he said after the reunification.

Plinck said police are coming over to 7/11 on Tuesday to speak with the manager as well as potentially look through surveillance video there. He now plans on searching for his truck.

It is a white 2017 Dodge Ram 2500, four-door diesel. If you think you have spotted the truck, call police.

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A Salinas man is searching for his stolen truck, with his dog believed to be inside.

Travis Plinck tells KION that his two-year-old black labrador, Rue, was in his white Dodge Ram when it was stolen at a 7-Eleven on South Main Street, early Sunday morning.

KION’s Josh Kristianto will have details on Pinck’s search effort and more about what happened, tonight on the CW at 10 and KION at 11.