Charlotte couple’s beloved dog found after being taken by DoorDash driver

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - A Charlotte couple’s beloved dog, Blue, was found after being taken by a DoorDash driver over the weekend.

The reunion comes after Blue, who escaped his yard due to storm damage, was returned by the DoorDash driver who took him Friday night.

The owners, Shaun Jeffries and Charise Thomas, first noticed Blue’s absence Friday night. On Tuesday, DoorDash told WBTV they’d contacted the driver and that the person was “happy to return the dog” to its owners.

The driver met up with Jeffries and Thomas Tuesday night to return Blue. Jeffries says the encounter was strange, with the driver giving unsatisfactory reasons as to why they took Blue home for multiple days.

“They said it was cold, and they didn’t want him to freeze to death,” Jeffries said. “Then the guy said, ‘I told my wife not to take him.’ They just had every excuse as to why they couldn’t just knock on my door.”

According to Jeffries and security footage taken by the family and neighbors, Blue was only sitting in his front yard for about 10 minutes when the DoorDash driver picked up the dog and left. Jeffries said the family is still working with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police to investigate what happened and whether a crime was committed, but for now, they’re just happy to have Blue home.

“I’m having a lot of people tell me press charges,” he said. “A lot of people say, you know, ‘Go after DoorDash.’ I said: ‘My wife and I, we’ll figure it out.’ But as for right now, he [Blue] is the only thing that counts.”

When Jeffries and Thomas realized their dog had gone missing, they immediately contacted DoorDash and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

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The family explained severe storms had knocked down a portion of their backyard fence, but they didn’t notice because it was dark outside. While Jeffries started canvassing the neighborhood for any sign of Blue, his wife Charise started looking at their security footage.

“I started checking my Ring cameras,” she said. “I couldn’t sleep. I was literally like, there’s a car that did a U-turn, and I couldn’t understand why that car was there. And I saw Blue in the picture right here by our tree.”

The video shows Blue for a few minutes. He first runs across the road, where a neighbor pets him. Then he returns to the couple’s front yard and stands by a tree in their front yard when a car pulls up and stops. A second angle - from a neighbor’s security camera - shows the car’s lights coming on.

Jeffries and Thomas’ neighbors later confirmed that they knew the car. They had ordered a DoorDash delivery that night, and the vehicle’s driver had delivered them food. The neighbor also told Jeffries and Thomas that they saw the driver stop near Blue, which led them to believe that the person had taken him.