MIDDLEBURG, Fla. -- With a name like Tebow and a personality to match, Susan Wargo knew she had a winner when she adopted her Jack Russell/Chihuahua mix.
"He's quick. He loves to play ball, and he runs," Wargo described.
But it's unfortunately that running that's causing Wargo many a sleepless night.
It happened 10 days ago at the Walmart off Blanding Boulevard and Branan Field Road. Wargo stopped in to get some groceries about 9:45 p.m. It wasn't too hot, so she says she left Tebow behind in her locked van with the windows cracked.
But when she returned, her door was open and Tebow was nowhere to be found.
"I saw my door open and I thought 'oh my goodness'," she exclaimed.
An investigation led to 30-year-old Brian Dolinger.
Police say Dolinger and his family noticed Tebow in the van when they left the store. Parked just a few spots over, the report says Dolinger became "annoyed" that the dog was barking while he was trying to install his newly-purchased windshield wiper blades.
Police say that's when he reached into Wargo's van through the open window. The police report describes him then getting into his car, leaving, circling back around in the parking lot right next to Wargo's van, and then opening the door letting little Tebow run loose.
"If he would not have messed with my vehicle I would have my dog today," Wargo said.
Now left with only the memory, she posts his picture on fliers and all over her van. Wargo's still hopeful someone will see it and bring her Tebow back.
"It is very upsetting, very upsetting. He was my companion. He was like a child to me," she said.
Dolinger was arrested by the Clay County Sheriff's Office on charges of auto burglary and grand theft.
Tebow was last spotted in Middleburg. He's tan and white and about 40 pounds. Anyone with information about his possible whereabouts should call Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.
