Lancaster church led Dallas police to home with missing zoo monkeys - The Dallas Morning News

Members of a Lancaster religion led authorities to the location wherever 2 monkeys taken from the Dallas Zoo were recovered Tuesday, the household who runs the religion told The Dallas Morning News.

Tonya Thomas, whose begetter is the pastor of the Family Center Church of God successful Christ successful Lancaster, said 2 emperor tamarin monkeys missing from the Dallas Zoo were recovered Tuesday evening wrong their assemblage house, adjacent doorway to the church, aft her household tipped disconnected Dallas police.

She said constabulary besides recovered different animals wrong the home, including birds, cats and perchance chickens. The house, successful the 2500 artifact of Gerry Way Street conscionable southbound of Wintergreen Road, is astir 20 minutes from the Dallas Zoo.

“I was conscionable shocked,” Thomas said. “I didn’t deliberation idiosyncratic would spell arsenic acold arsenic to spell to the Dallas Zoo and instrumentality monkeys and bring them to this location.”

Police said they recovered emperor tamarin monkeys that were missing from the Dallas Zoo connected Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, astatine a location successful Lancaster.(Dallas Police Department)

Although constabulary haven’t announced immoderate arrests, the family’s extremity was a large improvement successful the enigma astatine the Dallas Zoo that has deepened implicit the past respective weeks. It followed an unprecedented drawstring of incidents, including different missing animals, torn enclosures and the antithetic decease of an endangered vulture.

The archetypal incidental took spot Jan. 13, erstwhile a 4-year-old clouded leopard named Nova escaped from her enclosure aft the mesh surrounding it was cut. She was recovered hours aboriginal adjacent her habitat, unharmed. The time aft she escaped, officials revealed a akin chopped was recovered connected an enclosure of langur monkeys, but each of the langurs were successful their situation and accounted for.

About a week later, a 35-year-old endangered vulture named Pin was recovered dead, and zoo unit rapidly declared it “unusual.” After the zoo’s veterinary squad conducted a necropsy — oregon an carnal autopsy — they said the vertebrate was recovered with a “wound,” but declined to grow connected their findings due to the fact that of the ongoing investigation.

Zoo officials discovered the emperor tamarin monkeys, Bella and Finn, were unaccounted for successful their situation Monday morning, and said it was instantly “clear the situation had been intentionally compromised.” Police said the situation was cut.

Police said Tuesday evening they received a extremity the monkeys mightiness beryllium successful an abandoned location successful Lancaster, and they recovered Bella and Finn determination successful a closet. Thomas said the location isn’t abandoned — it belongs to their church, but was boarded up to forestall break-ins portion they tried to rise funds to bring the location up to par.

Thomas said her household suspected antithetic enactment astatine the assemblage location since conscionable earlier Christmas. One Sunday, erstwhile they went to be services astatine their church, her household noticed the doorway to the assemblage house, usually locked shut, was wide open. Her father, the pastor, walked implicit and heard euphony and different noises.

The Family Center Church of God successful Christ successful Lancaster(Provided by Tonya Thomas)

They called police, but by the clip officers arrived, nary 1 was wrong the home, Thomas said. Police recovered blankets wherever idiosyncratic appeared to beryllium sleeping, arsenic good arsenic canned goods, she added. Animals were besides wrong the home, including chickens, pigeons, birds and cats, Thomas said.

The household said the location besides had nary energy and was acold inside. Authorities and carnal power officials cleaned retired the house, she said, and the household locked it backmost up.

Thomas said they ne'er saw anyone entering oregon leaving the assemblage house. But the household suspected the archetypal break-in whitethorn person been idiosyncratic who lived successful the country and visited the religion earlier based connected “his behaviour erstwhile visiting our services and different events held astatine the church.” She said helium was a nice, young man, but had acted off.

“We didn’t cognize for definite who it was,” she said. “We conscionable knew idiosyncratic had breached into the location and destroyed it and brought each these animals successful there.”

It wasn’t until Dallas constabulary released a photograph Tuesday of a antheral believed to person accusation astir the missing monkeys from the zoo that the household pieced it together. The section shared surveillance images of a antheral and said detectives were looking to talk with him, but added that “he is not a idiosyncratic of interest currently.” Dallas constabulary reiterated Wednesday the antheral is not a idiosyncratic of interest.

The antheral looked similar the idiosyncratic who attended their church, Thomas said. Her siblings texted the photograph to the household and wrote, “Hey, does this feline look acquainted to y’all? Is this the feline that’s been successful the neighborhood, astir our church?”

“We were each like, ‘Yes, that’s him!” Thomas said.

Thomas’ sister, Winter E. Ross, called police. A Dallas constabulary telephone log shows officers responded to the code Tuesday astir 4:05 p.m. Police aboriginal released a photograph showing 1 of the missing monkeys wrong the closet of a home. Ross said her household was “very shocked.”

“We lone knew we had seen a batch of different stray animals successful the location and that we had ne'er really been capable to drawback him portion helium was successful there,” Ross said. “Our household talked astir it and adjacent joked astir it ... we were wholly shocked but relieved the monkeys were harmless and unharmed.”

Police did not merchandise immoderate accusation astir the different animals Thomas said were recovered wrong the home.

Thomas said she’s gladsome the animals are safe, and the family’s anticipation present is that authorities find the man. The household planned to supply summertime younker programs and daycare astatine the assemblage location erstwhile they raised capable money, but they present expect the installation is destroyed, Thomas said.

If awarded the $10,000 offered by the zoo for accusation starring to an apprehension oregon indictment, she said the wealth would spell toward fixing the installation to crook it into a spot that tin service the community.

But for now, she said, cardinal questions stay unanswered: however and wherefore did idiosyncratic bargain the monkeys and bring them to Lancaster?

“Who has a tendency to spell to the zoo and chopped retired animals and bring them to our house?” Thomas said.