Chicago family's dog stolen near day care in Lincoln Park, owner says: 'We're on edge'

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A pet owner on Chicago's North Side is pleading for her family's dog to be returned after it was stolen.

The last time the 5-year-old dog, Charlie, was seen by his owner was when she tied him up outside a nearby day care to rush in to get her kids. She's hoping a trail of videos could help lead to the person who may have took him.

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A relationship bonded through the COVID-19 pandemic is now absent in dog owner Erin Franzblau's house.

"We were on a long waitlist for him," Franzblau said. "Came in the fall of COVID, a few years after my husband and I got married, but before we had kids."

Chicago police said the theft happened just before 6 p.m. Friday near Armitage and Clifton avenues in Lincoln Park.

"We messed up in that I was running from a long day at work. My husband was out of town in Denver. I was alone picking up three kids: two toddlers and a baby. And, I was rushing," Franzblau said. "I tied him up outside the day care where there's a window, where everyone can see him."

When she came back out, Charlie was gone.

"Usually, he jumps up to greet us. He's so excited to greet us, and we both see that he's not there," Franzblau said. "I start freaking out, asking people where he is."

Franzblau says home surveillance video showed her dog with someone in a dark hoodie shortly after the pet was taken.

"She was asking people, 'Whose dog is this? Whose dog is this?,'" Franzblau said. "She did unleash the dog, and take the dog, and walk west of Racine... "She was kind to him, but he was shaking."

She's pleading for his return, not only to only to the public, but also to the person who may have her canine son.

"We're hopeful that someone is just taking care of him and going to get him back to us. But it is incredibly uncertain. We're on edge. We're crying," Franzblau said. "It makes me so incredibly sad for him."

The owner says Charlie is microchipped and was last wearing a collar with an address and phone number. She's offering a $5,000 reward for the dog's safe return, no questions asked.