Teen Searching For Two-Year-Old Pup Missing Since The Snowstorm

Saturday was a bad time for anyone to be caught outdoors. But for a lost dog, the record-breaking blizzard would have been especially harrowing.

Zain Junaid, 16, has been desperately searching for his two-year-old German Shepherd, Roxy, ever since she escaped from his Gerritsen Beach home the day before Winter Storm Jonas blanketed the city in more than two feet of snow.

“There’s never a good time for a dog to run away. But the weather is a really bad thing,” he said. “I’m hoping that someone found her and is waiting until after the storm to turn her in.”

Roxy, along with Junaid’s other German Shepherd, Tiger, escaped in the early morning on Friday after the two dogs chewed through the walls and insulation in the garage. Junaid said he didn’t realized his pets had run off until a friend alerted him that Tiger had been found and was being held at the local police station.

A security guard at the Tamaqua Bar and Marina spotted Tiger running around the beach and called police to come pick up the dog. Tiger was soaking wet, as if he had been swimming in Plumb Beach Channel, at the time he was found, Junaid said.

Junaid said it was odd that Tiger would not be with his lifelong friend Roxy. And while he worries that his other dog may have drowned, he holds out hope that she is still out there.

“The cops said that maybe Roxy drowned, but I don’t believe that. Everyone says that the body would be floating after at least two days and no one has seen her in the water,” Junaid said.

Junaid took Tiger out for a walk Friday evening to see if they could track down their missing companion. He said Tiger seemed to catch a scent near the Marina and led them onto the trails in Marine Park.

“My dog took me all the way to Marine Park. And I was surprised because I never took him or Roxy there. But he just kept smelling something, pulling at the leash and barking. He never acted like that before,” Junaid said.

They headed back home after Tiger lost the scent. However, he and a classmate struck out again later that evening when the first snowflakes began accumulating on the roads. He said they searched the neighborhood until 3am, calling Roxy’s name and looking for fresh tracks in the snow.

Junaid is hoping that a neighbor might have taken Roxy in during the storm and is offering a $200 reward for her to be returned. He is asking anyone with information to call him at 917-808-3024.

“The day I found out Roxy was gone, I was devastated. I was crying,” he said. “She’s like my little kid.”