Molly was last seen outside the P Street Whole Foods.

Is someone stealing dogs in Logan Circle?

Area residents Laurel and Tyler Newby believe someone walked off with their 7 year-old Vizsla, Molly, Monday evening outside the P Street Whole Foods.

Tyler and the couple’s daughter had popped into the store at around 6 p.m. to pick up a couple of things for dinner. It was a typically busy evening on that street, with lots of people coming in and out of the popular grocery store, as well as milling around the tables on the sidewalk. As is the family’s habit, Molly came along for the walk, and like he usually does, before going inside, Tyler tied the dog up outside the store by looping her leash around a tree and clipping it back on the ring on her collar. Tyler noticed that there weren’t any other dogs tied up there, which he says is unusual for that time of day at that location.

When Tyler and his daughter returned after making their purchases – he estimates they were inside for no more than 20 minutes – the leash was there, but Molly was gone. And those who know her insist Molly would not have run away.

“She’s such a people dog. If she had gotten off her leash, she would have gone straight to the closest person,” said Laurel Newby. “And she’s so large, if she had been wandering down the street, people would have wondered, ‘where is your owner?'”

Tyler also noticed that the leash didn’t show any signs of Molly having struggled against it.

“The leash wasn’t pulled tight like she had been straining against it. It was kind of loose,” he said, noting that if Molly had pulled on it, the retractable leash lead would have been extended all the way, but it wasn’t.