February 20th was a big day for Darlene and Cliff Ryckman. It was the day when they got back their missing dog Molly. Molly the Shih Tzu made it home because of DNA testing which was completed by local police.
In an unusual case that spanned nearly a year, DNA sample were taken to prove that Molly belonged to Cliff and Darlene Ryckman.
Molly had no microchip and no tattoo, so when the tiny dog went missing last year the Ryckmans were at a loss to prove the identity of the dog they had raised from birth. Even though they found out who in the neighborhood had taken her in.
“I thought you know what, they do it on humans, they got to do it on animals,” when asked where shy got the idea to preform a DNA test on Molly.
The Ryckmans also own Molly’s sire, Howey, and had the DNA paternity test done In all three test were performed on each dog.
The stressful year started last March 4 when the two dogs were let out into the back yard of the family’s home. The gate wasn’t quite shut, and the two dogs started to chase a cat and the next thing Darlene knew, she couldn’t find Molly.
“I prayed every day,” she said. “I went to a psychic. I put it in The Spectator.” Darlene also put an announcement on local TV, got the word out at some schools and put up flyers.
Almost right after Molly went missing, a woman responded to the flyers Darlene had posted. She said had seen two people in the neighborhood pick up a Shih Tzu and take it into an apartment building. Cliff, tracked down a specific apartment, and was told by a woman there that they did not have Molly.
The Ryckmans weren’t convinced and they were persistent with police. Eventually they ended up face-to-face with the people who had picked up Molly on the street when they were out with Molly. Darlene said of the encounter, “Seeing Molly just walking away from me … she was going nuts when she seen me and my husband, and I just broke down because I couldn’t take my dog and these people wouldn’t give me my dog back.”
Cliff said the whole situation was very upsetting for the couple. He said,”It upset me to go to work because my wife would be crying everyday.”
But finally, after much determination and pursuing Molly through three moves by the people who had Molly, the Ryckmans paid $110 for DNA tests for the two dogs. Constable Annette Huys, one of two officers working on the case, took the DNA samples. Huys said, “I’d just come out of the forensic unit, so I was used to collecting lots of DNA, but not necessarily from dogs.” Huys said unfortunately everybody had fallen in love with the Molly and it didn’t matter which side police dealt with, they were always crying when it came to talking about the Molly.
It took about two weeks for the samples to come back a match. Molly was returned to her the Ryckmans on February 20th.
Staff Sergeant Jack Langhorn called the entire case including taking doggy DNA “extremely unusual.” He said, “It was a unique situation … It wouldn’t be something that we’re going to do on a regular basis.”
Darlene said she’s grateful to the two officers who worked on the case and that, she’ll be getting Molly microchiped shortly.
