Bellevue, Wash. — “None of this makes any sense, but it happened and so now I’m having to process it,” said Allison Smith, the owner of two mini donkeys stolen over the weekend.
Smith is relieved after reuniting with her donkeys Tuesday night.
“As soon as the detective called me and said he found them, I screamed, I was excited,” said Smith.
She says the donkeys – Juan and Julio – were stolen from her barn in Bellevue’s Bridal Trails neighborhood Sunday afternoon.
Smith says the thief then contacted a family in Fall City.
“From here directly to Fall City, was able to somehow convince this woman to buy my trailer and the donkeys. He was asking $10,000 for the whole lot and she gave him $5,000,” said Smith.
She says the family had no idea they were stolen until they saw KIRO 7′s story and called the police.
Smith says her donkeys are safe and temporarily staying at a friend’s ranch in Redmond.
Smith believes the man who stole her donkeys is the same person who she met at a horse show three years ago and paid $500 to do some barn work.
“Never did the work and I never tried to follow or catch up or anything – I just let it go,” said Smith.
Meanwhile, police are examining street surveillance video showing a dark truck, allegedly towing Smith’s stolen trailer, with the donkeys inside.
“It looks like a Dodge Ram. It was carrying Juan and Julio in the trailer. Now the trailer and the donkeys have been found. Now there’s that truck – who’s connected to that?” said Drew Anderson with the Bellevue Police Department.
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