According to a long story in La Voz de Almería, a lady called Josefa Garcia, living in El Rocío de Alfoquía in Arboleas, returned to her home to discover her door kicked in and her dog missing, a three year old French bulldog bitch called “Bebé”.
She left to hunt for her dog, and returned at nightfall to discover a large number of clothes she had brought for a new shop she was opening had been stolen. She then proceeded to call the Policia Local, who advised her to go to the Guardia Civil office and present the denuncia. Something she couldn’t do, as the Guardia in Zurgena only open in the morning.
Shortly afterwards, she received a phone call from a person saying they had Bebé and asking for a ransom of €500 for its safe return. Panicking, she again called the Locales, who allegedly advised her to contact the Guardia, but also the pay the money in case something happened to the dog.
The next morning she presented herself at the Guardia office in Zurgena and explained what had happened. Unfortunatly, the telephone lines were out, so they couldn’t open a denuncia for lack of internet. They advised her to go to Huercal Overa, but she then proceeded to have hysterics.
After calming down, she went to the mayor of Arboleas, our old jailbird mate Cándido Trabalón. He called in the Policia Local, who again apologised for not being able to do anything and said that if Zurgena Guardia Civil were incomunicado, to go to Huercal Overa Guardia station to present the Denuncia.
Josefa then went home to get ready to go to Huercal. While in her house, she received another call from the dognappers who told her that if she went to Huercal Overa and presented a denuncia, they would kill the dog – and meanwhile to look for €500 for the ransom. They said to wait until nightfall when they would call again.
She then called Zurgena Guardia station again, who said that until she presented the denuncia they were unable to act. She pointed out that she’d been trying to present the denuncia but couldn’t. They said to go to Huercal. She pointed out that if she did they would kill her dog. She said that she was going to denounce the Guardia for not helping. The Guardia said that if she didn’t present the denuncia they would denounce her for not following through on her denuncia of the robbery (does that make sense?).
She then seems to have given up entirely and called La Voz. As to what happened to the dog, we do not currently know. Josefa, however, hints darkly in the story that she knows who these people are.