Tragic ending to hunt for elderly dog called Yoshi who vanished after owner’s car was stolen from outside grocery store

The search for an elderly rescue dog who vanished along with her owner’s car when thieves took the SUV from outside a Tennessee grocery store has met a sad end. 

Lynn Bugg said her beloved 15-year-old pet called Yoshi was in the backseat of her 2013 Infiniti when criminals took it from outside Fresh Market in Memphis on May 2.  

The devastated owner launched a search party for the missing canine and offered a $2,000 reward for her safe return. 

But on Tuesday Bugg received the tragic news that a city worker had discovered Yoshi dead around four miles away from the grocery store. 

‘At least I know where she is. I was able to retrieve her. I have some closure and can tell people because it’s become such a story that has touched people’s lives,’ Bugg told CBS’ WREG Memphis. 

Bugg said Yoshi, who she rescued from the streets of Memphis as a puppy 14 years ago, did not have any visible injuries and it’s a mystery as to how she died. 

The animal lover announced the news in a Facebook post on Tuesday and thanked everyone who helped search for her pet. 

‘I received a call this morning that Yoshi has been located, she was in the median on Jackson at Macon, and had died. I was able to get her and take her to Dixie Memorial,’ she wrote. 

‘They tell me that she probably expired last night or early this morning. So all efforts and support since May 2 were not at all in vain, we all just had few clues on where to look and just didn’t get to her in time.

‘Yoshi was noble, beautiful, she had all the traits of great dogs; loyalty, intelligence, devotion, courage, protective, sometimes judgmental but unconditionally loving. 

‘She selected her people very carefully and never forgot a friend, was a foundling that I didn’t intend to keep who became the best dog I will ever have.

‘I can’t find words to express my gratitude for all the support and help, it has been beyond overwhelming. Thank you.’

Bugg said a thief smashed the window of her 2013 Infiniti moments after she entered the Fresh Market on May 2, and drove off with Yoshi still in the backseat. 

The next day, felons used a stolen Infiniti for an attempted bank robbery in West Memphis, and cops intercepted the driver after he crashed the car in downtown. 

Freddy Najil, 35, was charged with theft of property, evading arrest, and carrying a weapon while being a convicted felon over the incident. 

Bugg told WREG that Najil claimed he was not the original thief of the Infiniti but found it in Whitehaven. 

He said Yoshi was not inside and he didn’t know anything about the dog. 

‘Who knows whether he is telling the truth or not but they do have forensics from the car,’ Bugg told WREG. 

‘They’ll be able to determine if there were other fingerprints in the car and if he was telling the truth or not.’