The death of a Golden Retriever discovered in a stolen vehicle has netted thieves additional charges, Alaska State Troopers revealed on Tuesday.

It was on July 10th at 8:32 pm, that troopers received a report of a stolen vehicle, a 1999 Dodge van, from Fireweed Road in Palmer. It was reported by the complainant at that time, a Golden Retriever and a firearm were in the vehicle. 

Three days later, on July 13th, troopers located the stolen van on Hideaway Circle. When the vehicle was found, inside, troopers would discover the remains of the Retriever. It was determined that the animal had died from heat stroke.

On July 18th, troopers identified and arrested two convicted felons, 36-year-old Gina Jones and 35-year-old Jason McDonnell for the theft.

As a result of their arrest, both were remanded to Palmer’s Mat-Su Pretrial Facility on charges of “Vehicle Theft 1st degree, 2 counts of Theft 2nd degree, Misconduct involving Weapons 3rd degree and Animal Cruelty,” the trooper dispatch reported today.

Both suspects had their bail set at $30,000 each and also are required to have a Court-Approved Third Party Custodian.[xyz-ihs snippet=”Adsense-responsive”]

  animal cruelty, arrest, felons, firearms, gina jones, jason mcdonnell, palmer, stolen, vehicle theft, wasilla