FORKS — Police are investigating the theft and deaths of three pets.
Forks Police Detective Lev Teil said two dogs and a cat belonging to the same woman were found dead in the Forks area about two weeks ago after apparently being taken from her home.
“There’s no evidence that they were killed in an inhumane way,” he said.
Police Chief Lloyd Lee said it’s unknown if that incident and a Chihuahua found with its throat slit on a logging road west of Port Angeles in February are connected. The Chihuahua survived.
Lee said a suspect has been identified, but he declined to provide a name.
On the Web site, Craigslist, at least four entries were posted last week by people claiming their dogs were stolen in the Forks area. One claimed his dog was found dead.
Lee and Teil both said they haven’t received any other reports of stolen or dead pets.
“We don’t know about lots of animals being stolen or anything like that,” Teil said.
The Craigslist postings were anonymous, except for one left by a man named Joe Soto. The Peninsula Daily News e-mailed Wednesday each of the Craigslist accounts, but only Soto responded.
He said the incident being investigated involved pets belonging to Terra Lamping, whom he called his fiance.
Lamping filed a restraining order against Soto on March 24.
Soto was being held in Forks jail Saturday on investigation of alleged stalking.
Police confirmed that the pets belonged to Lamping, but she couldn’t be reached by the PDN for comment.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson contributed to this report.
Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.