Guy enjoying the sunshine at McCarren Park.

The story of Guy is so elaborate that I will only tell the very end. If you would like the entire story, please listen to the podcast where we talk about the process from start to finish. Let me just say that Guy was one of the hardest cases I ever worked. Running around the streets of Brooklyn, for just under two months. Guy went missing from McCarren Park, in Williamsburg, on September 6th, 2021. I was brought onto the case a good week into the search. There was a long stretch of time where many sightings of similar dogs were called in (6 in total). Followed by an entire month of no sightings. Towards the end, we were all feeling disappointment, refusing to think of the worst.  

The following story includes the last few days before his capture. On the evening of October 20th, 2021, Ryan’s father called me to say that he found Guy. He was hiding under a shipping container, about half a mile from the point of escape. He had been hiding under this container, at a food plant, for almost three weeks. Ryan had hung one of the first posters in that area, and miraculously it had never been torn down. This poster is what saved Guy’s life. A factory worker, who barely spoke any English, was on his way to work when he saw the original flier plastered across a telephone pole.  

The video that Ryan’s father took of Guy. A good example of what you should not do.

After seeing the video of Guy, I had set a trap close to the container where he was hiding. We had to crawl under a semi-tractor trailer, and to the left of an active loading dock, which was open all night long. And so were the two massive garage doors leading out to the street. In other words, one wrong move and Guy could take off running, putting us back to square one. In short, Guy never went into the trap that night. I left the trap open as a crate with my camera running and went back home to walk my dog, April. The following morning, about eight factory workers tried to chase Guy down in the hopes of capturing him. They were using a stick with a hook and making loud noises to try and dominate him into submission. They somehow managed to place him inside the trap, which he broke out of and disappeared. By the time Ryan could get there, Guy was gone. It was devastating. 

Guy on the trail camera, getting spooked by the flash.

Two minutes after everyone had lost sight of Guy, he was hiding under a crate. He was smart enough to realize that they had lost sight of him. At first, I thought I was making this up in my mind, but I knew that the picture was showing me a dog’s face. If so, that would mean Guy hid and stayed inside the factory and could still be there. The factory was closed for three days. So, if I were correct, Guy would have no access to food or water until Monday.   

The image that caught my attention. Specifically, the white tip to the right.

Brittany, a friend of Ryan’s, was helping us out this entire time. When I told her the situation, she jumped into action and went out to hang fliers all over the area. The following evening, I was planning to put out ten cameras in the neighborhood, to find out where Guy had run off to. My night was running extra-long, and by the time I had set all the cameras out, I figured I would just stay up all night to monitor the area. The food plant was closed during the weekends, so the doors were shut, and business would not resume until Monday. It was five in the morning. I was bored and figured I would look through my camera footage and delete whatever was on there. This was the camera that was taking images of the eight factory workers chasing Guy. Nothing unusual was on there. Just random feet. Then I came to the last video and thought I might have seen something. I zoomed in and lit up the image. There was a face. A dog’s face. Guy’s face.  

The face of Guy that nobody else could see.

After many phone calls, and favors, we were allowed to check the food plant on Sunday morning. Britanny and I went over to the location and within ten minutes of being there, we realized he was hiding inside a storage unit. We both locked ourselves inside the unit with Guy, using an endoscope to search behind the palates. It took us some time, but we found him. However, he was not coming out. Another hour of us trying to lure him out, which did not work, and then another half hour before we were able to safely secure him. Once we had him inside the trap, we contacted Ryan and told him the good news. It was extremely rewarding and one of the best cases I have ever worked on. Guy may not have ever made it home, if it were not for that factory worker taking the time to call us, but more importantly, if it were not for the poster that caught his attention. 

Reunion.