Woman’s beloved dog, ‘Yoshi,’ found dead after car theft at Fresh Market

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - The weeks-long search for a beloved dog that disappeared when the owner’s car was stolen outside Fresh Market has come to a tragic end. Yoshi’s owner tells Action News 5 that she was found dead Tuesday morning.

The 15-year-old German Shepherd-Husky mix was found in the median on Jackson Avenue at Macon Road, a few miles from the crime scene.

Yoshi’s owner, Lynn Bugg, said Yoshi’s body showed no signs of trauma or bruising that would indicate she’d been hit by a car. But her foot pads had rough spots, indicating the senior dog did a lot of walking in her final days.

“You know she was trying to find her way home, that’s what she was doing,” Bugg told Action News 5 just hours after she’d gotten the heartbreaking news, “It just kills my soul that she was in her favorite place to be. She loved the car, that was her safe place. And she was supposed to be protected, and then suddenly her world went upside down and she’s on the streets.”

The Husky-Shepherd mix disappeared on May 2 when a thief stole Lynn’s Infiniti at the Midtown Fresh Market with Yoshi in the backseat. The desperate search lasted 12 agonizing days.

“The efforts that were made were so appreciated,” said Bugg, “This whole city was looking for her. People called me, contacted me from all over the place, New York, Texas, offering advice or offering money for the reward. We just couldn’t be fast enough. She was an old dog and had limited time.” 

Bugg said Yoshi’s body was discovered four miles from where she was taken. The calls, texts, emails, and social media messages Lynn’s received have been overwhelming.

“It also says something about how crime affects people,” said Bugg. “[To some] this is, ‘Oh, it’s another car stolen.’ Well, no it wasn’t. The level of crime in the city is unbelievable.”  

Memphis police said there were no cameras on the west side of the store where Lynn’s car was swiped. She made a plea to business owners and corporations to link to MPD’s camera network.

”We need private businesses to step up and put in more cameras,” she said.

Investigators said Bugg’s car was used in a bank robbery in West Memphis, Arkansas, the day after it was stolen. They arrested 35-year-old Freddy Najil after a chase ended in Downtown Memphis.

MPD said he told them he found the car in Whitehaven with no dog inside.

Najil, a convicted felon out of North Carolina who pleaded guilty to kidnapping, weapons and drug charges in 2005, is now charged with theft of property, evading arrest, and carrying a weapon while being a convicted felon.

At last check, he was in the Shelby County Jail awaiting charges in the Arkansas bank robbery case. 

Bugg reflected on the impact Yoshi had on her family’s life.

Yoshi started out as a street dog. Bugg found her on Graham when she was just a year old, wandering with a long-haired dachshund. Bugg’s daughter kept the smaller dog, and she had no intention of keeping Yoshi until it became apparent their Scottish terrier had taken a liking to her.

But Yoshi was a bit of a wild child. Bugg said she watched 60 hours of “The Dog Whisperer” to learn how to train Yoshi.  Time and persistence paid off.

“We got to communicating,” said Bugg, “and once she understood what I was trying to say, she was like, ‘I’m here to help. What do you want me to do? Give me a job, and I’ll do anything.’ I taught her to pick up laundry. She would pick up laundry and take it to the laundry room.”

Yoshi is the Japanese word for “good.” Lynn picked that name with purpose for the pup and said she couldn’t have asked for a better dog.

“She was smart and noble and loyal, and all the qualities of the best dog,” said Bugg, “Our vet called her ‘canine extraordinaire.’ She really was a good dog. If everyone gets to have a dog like that, she was my Lassie, my Rin Tin Tin, they’re fortunate. For dog lovers, I hope you get a dog like her.”

Dixie Memorial Gardens is handling Yoshi’s final arrangements.

A kind Action News 5 viewer who breeds German Shepherds offered to give Bugg a free puppy. She said that’s incredibly generous, but she needs time to grieve the loss of Yoshi first.

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