Teacher on her stolen dog: 'I know Louie is going to be home soon'

NEARLY THREE excruciating weeks have passed since a heartless villain stole schoolteacher J.J. Pierce's Honda CR-V from the parking lot of a South Philadelphia store - with her beloved rescue dog, a black Lab mix named Louie, inside.

But Pierce, who had moved to Philadelphia from Washington, D.C., recently to teach high school, hasn't lost hope that she'll see her four-legged best friend again.

"My favorite part of my day is when I get to go through photos of Louie to select one for my post. . . . Tonight, I found this one and immediately started crying. I miss Louie more than I can handle right now and would do anything to have him home," Pierce posted last night on a Facebook page titled "Help Louie Get Home," along with a photo of a happy Louie standing in water.

"As always, thank you for everything. I will not give up because I have the strength of each of you behind me," she wrote. The page has gotten nearly 10,000 "likes" since its creation.

Pierce added in last night's post that she is "continuing to wait for answers on fingerprints, traffic cams, and other potential clues, but for the moment we are on our own in this search."

Since Pierce's red SUV was stolen Oct. 9 from the parking lot of the Home Depot on Columbus Boulevard near Tasker Street, she and Louie have garnered massive support from local residents, many of whom have hit the streets in neighborhoods where there have been suspected Louie sightings, and joined search parties for the 2-year-old dog, a handsome pooch with a white patch on his chest.

On Oct. 14, police found Pierce's CR-V abandoned on Darien Street near Rising Sun Avenue, in North Philadelphia - but Louie was nowhere to be found.

Starting next Monday, a billboard purchased with some of the money donated to help find Louie will go up on Delaware Avenue near Poplar Street. Kathy McGuire, who runs the nonprofit N.J. Aid for Animals, helped to secure the board. In the past, her group has used billboards for animal advocacy and they've been effective, she said.

"We found billboards work really, really well," McGuire said. The billboard on Delaware Avenue joins a number of electronic billboards with Louie's information around the area and will be up for a month - but McGuire and the other searchers hope they'll find Louie long before that.

"I am so thankful for all the help and well wishes this weekend," Pierce wrote on Facebook on Sunday. "Nothing to report for now, but I won't lose hope . . . Louie is out there somewhere."

Tipsters should contact Pierce at getlouiehome@gmail.com or 970-203-4707. A $3,000 reward is offered for Louie's safe return.