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How a family dog ​​helped solve the murder of his beloved owner

How a family dog ​​helped solve the murder of his beloved owner

Mandy Rose Reynolds, 26, was found “dead beyond recognition” in April 2023. Her dog helped police identify her and her killer Derek Daigneault

GoFundMe; McLennan County District Attorney's Office Mandy Rose Reynolds and her dog TitanGoFundMe; McLennan County District Attorney's Office Mandy Rose Reynolds and her dog Titan

GoFundMe; McLennan County Prosecutor’s Office

Mandy Rose Reynolds and her dog Titan

The 2023 murder of an Idaho woman was solved with the help of an unlikely source: the victim’s dog.

Mandy Rose Reynolds, 26, was found burning and “dead beyond recognition” in April 2023 by authorities responding to a wildfire in Robinson, Texas, according to the McLennan County District Attorney’s Office.

Her cousin, 29-year-old Derek Daigneault, was sentenced to life in prison for her murder on Thursday, November 7, the district attorney’s office said a release last week.

The investigation began on April 5, 2023, after police found Reynolds’ body, initially unrecognizable, burning in a field next to a white dog that “frantically barked at officers and refused to leave the area of ​​the body, but also refused to allow police to allow it to be recorded,” according to the press release from the public prosecutor.

The next day, the dog was still at the location after the body had been removed, when a citizen notified Animal Control who tracked down the dog’s owner through a chip on him. Police were then tipped off that the body was likely Reynolds’ and discovered the dog’s name is Titan.

McLennan County District Attorney's Office Mandy Rose Reynolds' dog TitanMcLennan County District Attorney's Office Mandy Rose Reynolds' dog Titan

McLennan County Prosecutor’s Office

Mandy Rose Reynolds’ dog Titan

This information led police to Reynolds’ home, where they found all of her belongings missing and her home completely empty, the district attorney’s office said. The victim’s car was also missing, prompting police to run her vehicle information into a license plate database. They determined the car was in Wichita, Kan.

After being notified of the vehicle, Wichita police saw Reynolds’ car on April 8, 2023, and encountered Daigneault, the district attorney’s office said. He fled on foot and hid on a shelf in a supermarket where he was captured, police said.

Investigators discovered a gun in the car that matched the shell casing found in the container where police say Reynolds’ body was burned.

Meanwhile, Walmart surveillance footage obtained by police in San Marcos, Texas, showed the killer purchasing a plastic storage container – “identical” to the one in which Reynolds was later found, a shovel and a gas can the day before Reynolds’ body was found . The footage also showed Titan sticking his head out of Reynolds’ car window, police said.

McLennan County District Attorney Derek DaigneaultMcLennan County District Attorney Derek Daigneault

McLennan County Prosecutor’s Office

Derek Daigneault

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In one GoFundMe founded after her murder, Reynolds’ mother said the victim had moved from Idaho to San Marcos and was thinking about going to college before the murder. Daigneault contacted Reynolds, her mother says, under “false pretenses.”

This “resulted in Mandy traveling to Kansas to take Derek to Texas for a short visit,” her mother, Karleen Hardy, wrote in the fundraiser.

Further details about the circumstances of the killing, such as the motive, have not been revealed.