Point Reyes Light - August 10, 2000
Extortionists target Stinson Beach dog owner
In another strange saga this week, a Stinson Beach pet owner appears to have been victimized by dognappers and extortionists.
Last Tuesday, Aug. 1, a chocolate Labrador, Mr. Lucky, escaped from Maureen Candau's yard while she was at work at the Stinson Beach Water District. When Mr. Lucky didn't come home, Candau posted "lost dog" signs all over town.
Then, starting at 7 a.m. Saturday, Candau started receiving a series of collect telephone calls.
The first caller identified himself as "Tim." He presented himself as a do-gooder who felt sorry for Candau, and told her she could pick up Mr. Lucky at an unnamed animal shelter if she wired $300 to a Western Union office in San Leandro.
Desperate to get her dog back, Candau wired the money from Smiley's Saloon in Bolinas, which serves as a Western Union office.
Dog deal Tim, the mystery caller, told Candau that two Hispanics had been seen in Stinson Beach holding Mr. Lucky on a rope, and that they had been in the process of selling the dog to a man named Robbie Solamani.
Tim said the man who witnessed the sale was named Steve Wiesenmonte, whom Tim said had black hair and was seen driving a black car with two Chihuahuas riding along.
As for the buyer, Solamani, Tim described him as an Iranian from Canada who was passing through Stinson Beach en route to Disneyland.
After numerous phone calls from Tim, Candau then got a call from Solamani. The man said that when he got to Los Angeles with the dog, he was informed that the dog was stolen. Solamani said he was willing to relinquish the dog for the price he paid for him - $300.
At one point, one of the callers told Candau that a deaf girl he knew could transport Mr. Lucky from Los Angeles to Auburn, where Candau could pick him up.
So far, no dog has materialized, and Marin Sheriff's deputies are investigating. Candau called deputies after wiring the $300 to San Leandro.
Can't trace wired money Sheriff's Lt. John Brunslik explained that money can be wired anywhere to a fictitious person. The recipient only needs to know a password. In this case, the phrase agreed to by Candau and the swindlers was, "My name is Lucky."
Asked if she ever sensed the whole business might be a hoax, Candau said the caller Tim described certain details about Mr. Lucky that convinced her that those involved had actually seen her dog.
"They identified Mr. Lucky by saying he was recently castrated and his teeth were pearly white," Candau said.
"I would have paid them $1,000 if they had asked for it," she added.
MCI, Candau's long-distance carrier, is unwilling to release telephone records that might pinpoint the extortionists' location.
Candau is devastated over the disappearance of Mr. Lucky, and is concerned that another lost Stinson Beach dog may also have been stolen.
Mr. Lucky is the fourth of her dogs that have met a sad fate, all at four-year intervals, she said. Candau's first dog, Teage, was stolen. The second, Travis, was stolen and later poisoned. Little Lou died of kidney failure. And Mr. Lucky's fate remains uncertain.
"All I want is my dog back," Candau said. "He'll die without me."