There has been a cruel and disturbing twist in the case of a missing South Carolina dog. The dog, Tess went missing September 27, 2019 in what could only be explained as a botched residential burglary attempt. The dog belongs to Lori Knight and her husband and son. They reside on Meadowfield Road in Gaston, South Carolina.
Ironically the night Tess went missing, Lori and her husband, avid animal rescuers, were out transporting a rescued dog to its safe-haven.
The only clues to Tess’s disappearance lay on some samples of her fur and blood found on the gate and a tracking dog following Tess’s scent in a two-mile circle around the Knight’s property. It’s been four months since Tess vanished, and the family has been living a nightmare no dog owner ever wants to go through.
What is very strange about this case; no one has seen Tess anywhere. The Knights put out 10,000 missing dog fliers, went door to door asking if anyone had seen the dog, contacted all vet’s offices and shelters in the area, but no one had sighted her. How could a dog just vanish into thin air? And, Tess was micro-chipped, so if someone found her wandering, they could easily trace her back to the Knights.
Since Tess went missing, Lori Knight and her husband have been searching day and night canvasing neighborhoods and deeply wooded areas. The only sighting on Tess was 11/2/19. The people who saw her fed her pizza crust and left her there, yet their stories kept changing each time; unfortunately not a solid, dependable lead.
Now, to add to the suffering of Tess’s family, a mentally disturbed person(s) has posted a new flyer over Tess’s missing dog flyer.
The post coldly states:
Tess is dead get over it.
The flyer further tells Tess’s family to take down all their “litter” meaning the flyers they had put up to help find their dog.
This is nothing but a coldly calculated, cruel, criminal act. However, when Lori called the Sheriff’s Department to come out, the responding officer did nothing. He didn’t even walk up to the pole where the flyer was posted or write a report. This is unacceptable. This type of activity demands an investigation. Someone out there knows something, yet if there’s no investigation, then that person will not be caught.
It also needs to be investigated as to why the Knights are being targeted. Does the person who hung the offensive flyer have information about Tess?
Sadly, in this case, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department have been supportive in some ways but not in others. According to Lori Knight, on the night Tess went missing, the police did not respond to her call for help right away. She made the first call reporting a break-in, but no one came out. Hours later the Sheriff’s Department finally responded to a second call about an unknown person at the end of the driveway.
Yet, they didn’t do an incident report that night nor did they take any fingerprints off the Knight’s front door nor the inside of their house. Blood was found on the front gate along with a piece of Tess’s fur. No blood sample was taken or tested. It may have been the blood of the suspect, but we’ll never know.
On the other side, Lori has nothing but praise for Captain Howard of the Lexington County Sheriff’s Office south region and the other officers in that region. The local animal control office and the town of Gaston have also been supportive in posting flyers and sharing Tess’s information.
The search for Tess continues. It has been too long. It is time for someone to come forward who knows the truth and not a deranged person posting fake flyers.
So many questions remain unanswered. Why did one missing dog come home but Tess did not? Why has no one seen her anywhere? If the officers who responded the night of the incident had followed proper procedures and protocol such as taking blood samples and fingerprints maybe a suspect would be in custody and Tess would be home with her family?
Lori Knight is not going to give up her search for Tess until she has definite answers. Anyone who has information on Tess, the missing dog or who posted that disgusting flyer about Tess being dead needs to contact the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department at 803-785-8230.
If you see Tess, please do not try to approach her. Instead, contact Lori Knight at 803-587-3241, Zack at 803-807-7970, or Joe 423-327-0210.
Tess is more than just a dog to the Knights; she is their baby, they have loved and cared for her for most of her life. She is a member of their family. Their hearts are broken thinking of her so far from home alone, exhausted and frightened. They think the night of the break-in something scared her enough to go running so far that she can’t find her way home. She may be hiding somewhere in the woods too frightened or injured to come out.
You know it’s true!!
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This is awful! My heart goes out to the family of Tess!
I think if they are involved balls-y enough to make new posters saying that, then they should have enough balls to talk to the family….let them have “closure“ and stop looking and start grieving. And whoever posted over her flyers is a cold hearted bastard and can f*ck off!! As for the police……BBOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Of course!! Why the heck didnt you respond to the call the first night?! Good job douchebags
I can’t even begin to understand the agony Tess’s family is going through…… whoever posted those cruel, taunting fliers is a disgusting POS who will burn forever in Hell for their cruelty.
If Tess is dead, why not tell her family where she is so they can retrieve her remains and gain much needed closure.
It would be fantastic if Tess were found alive!!! Certainly hope & pray for a good outcome in this situation. But, sadly, one must also face the awful possibility that Tess is dead…..
Someone knows exactly who did what and it would be “taking the high road” to give Tess’s family closure…… Even an “anonymous” tip would be better than not knowing anything……
PLEASE PLEASE SUPPORT LORI! ALSO, THE TOWN NEEDS TO BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR EVIL LUNATICS! HOW ABOUT A GO FUND ME PAGE?