STANLY COUNTY, N.C. — The Stanly County Sheriff’s Office is investigating after a rash of violent home break-ins in the Norwood area.
On Monday, two dogs were shot and killed during a break-in on Fork Road.
Investigators are working to find out if the cases could be connected to each other as well as a few cases in Anson County.
Kelly Hooks is still in shock that her dogs were senselessly killed in a closed-off room during a break-in in broad daylight.
Kelly’s boyfriend, Cody, came home and found the two dogs -- 8-month-old Husky “Nova” and 3-year-old Rottweiler mix “Rucker” -- had been shot.
“They don’t realize what they took from us,” Kelly said, calling the dogs her babies. “They could’ve taken the whole house. I wouldn’t have cared if they took everything in the house if they would’ve just left them alone.”
Investigators are working to find out if the home break-in is connected to half a dozen others in the Norwood area over the past four weeks, including one in the Cottonville area in which a 78-year-old woman was threatened.
The woman was still too shaken up to talk on camera, but told Eyewitness News anchor Liz Foster that three men busted in her door around 11 p.m. and threatened to kill her while they ransacked her house.
She later told her neighbor and pastor Alex Willoughby about it.
“She wasn’t even aware of it until they were already in the bedroom and just standing over her,” Willoughby said.
Stanly County Sheriff George Burris has multiple detectives working to figure out if the cases are connected and track down the suspects.
“If they’ll take an innocent dog’s life, what could happen next? That’s why we’re taking this case so serious,” Burris told Channel 9.
Cody and Kelly are doing what they can to help investigators. Thanks to the generosity of friends and neighbors, they are offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction.
Burris is asking community members to make sure their home and car doors are locked, keep an eye on neighbor’s homes and don't hesitate to report any suspicious vehicles or activity.
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