UPDATE: Frida has been reunited with her owners. Read about it here.
LOGAN SQUARE — A couple had one of their worst nightmares come true last week when they learned, while out of town, that their beloved dog, Frida, had been stolen from their friend’s Logan Square apartment during a burglary.
Danny Castaneda and his partner Eric Villafuerte left their pup Frida — a tiny, four-year-old shih tzu yorkie mix — with their longtime friend in her apartment in the 1900 block of North Drake Avenue.
Sometime between the hours of 8 a.m. and 12:50 p.m. Friday, someone broke into their friend’s third-floor apartment through a back window and left with a laptop and Frida, according to Chicago Police spokeswoman Jennifer Bryk.
As of Wednesday morning, no one had been charged in the burglary. The investigation is ongoing, Bryk said.
“We both described it as total disbelief. You drop her off, never thinking that you’re perhaps never going to see her again,” Castaneda said.
Castaneda described Frida as weighing four and a half pounds and having white fur with tan accents and a long white tail. She originally belonged to Villafuerte, who has had her since she was seven weeks old — back when she could fit in the palm of your hand.
“The thing we love the most about her is that for such a small animal, she has so much love to give,” he said. “Once she gets on your lap, she’s like, ‘OK, well, now I’m gonna get on your chest.’ She loves being on top of you, in these little crevices. She’s like that with everyone.”
Castaneda said there’s very little chance Frida escaped on her own, especially given that she doesn’t like being outside without company.
“It’s really not like her to run away. The apartment is on the third floor. It’s not like her to run out of the apartment and down three flights of stairs,” he said.
“She likes to be outside if you’re there, but she’s not one to stay out in the yard for very long. She usually will come to the door and start whining.”
Since the burglary, Castaneda and Villafuerte, who live in Pilsen, have put up nearly 200 flyers around Logan Square and launched a Find Frida Facebook page. They’ve reached out to more than 50 vets and animal hospitals in and around Chicago.
“She doesn’t have a microchip. Finding her would be by identification, and we wanted that information to be out there,” he said.
The couple is also offering a $500 reward for Frida’s safe return — no questions asked.
“We’re not looking to press charges. We really just want her back,” Castaneda said.
Castaneda’s best guess as to why someone would’ve stolen Frida?
“She’s just super, super adorable. If you pick her up, you instantly love her. All I can think of is that the person came in and they liked her enough to take her,” he said
Anyone with information is urged to contact Castaneda on the Find Frida Facebook page.
NBC News was first to report on the burglary.
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