2 Missing Dogs Found Dead in Pair of Crab Pots in Alaska: ‘I’m Still in Disbelief,’ Owner Says

The remains of two French bulldogs who went missing more than a month ago in Alaska were found in a pair of crab pots.

Alaska Wildlife Troopers made the tragic discovery while conducting a routine inspection of the shellfish pots near Thorne Bay Harbor on March 14, according to an official dispatch. The animals went missing on Feb. 13.

Owner Esther Martin told KTUU that her husband Kane Martin and brother-in-law Shane Martin had taken the 1-year-old bulldogs — brothers named Yoda and Whiskey — with them to work that day at a logging operation near Thorne Bay, as was their routine. When the men took a break at 9:30 a.m., the dogs were nowhere to be found.

“The dogs have gone to work with them every single day since we got them back in June. So it was very uncommon of them to disappear the way they did,” Esther told the outlet. “We were immediately suspicious but had hoped that they would return on their own, and it just took longer and longer.”

At the end of Kane and Shane's work day five hours later, the dogs still had not reappeared.

Kane told KRBD he believes Yoda and Whiskey were taken by someone from the nearby Sandy Beach Road.

“They were the sweetest dogs you’d have ever met. They would have jumped in a vehicle with anybody," Esther told KTUU, adding, "I'm still in disbelief."

That night, Shane searched the area multiple times. The pet owners left items of clothing with their smell, Yoda and Whiskey's dog beds and some food at the scene. "We rode around on the quad for days just searching every road, every muskeg, every trail, and they were just gone," Esther told KTUU.

The Martins also put up flyers with pictures of the dogs, offering a $500 reward for their safe return. After two weeks passed without any solid leads, they doubled the amount to $1,000.

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Weeks later, when the Wildlife Troopers pulled up the pots with the dogs' remains inside, they compared photographs and information from the Martins to confirm the animals' identities.

Alaska State Troopers told PEOPLE that “our investigation is active and ongoing.” Spokesman Austin McDaniel also told KRBD that troopers are attempting to corroborate information from potential witnesses before releasing it to the public.

The Martins are now offering a $2,500 reward for any information about who might be responsible.

Kane told KRBD that the bulldogs' deaths may have been "personal."

“The troopers told me they thought it was something personal," he said. "I mean, there’s only one person on this island that has any kind of vendetta against me at all and it’s not even that much that I know of. I mean, I’ve lived here my whole life."

Esther added to KTUU: “[Yoda and Whiskey] were friendly beyond measure, and when I think about just their final moments, I hope it was swift. I can’t think about it too long because they were so sweet and they were so loved.”