ATLANTA — A mystery in Midtown has captured the hearts and minds of neighbors working together to solve it.
The Frisbees of a 7-year-old dog named Vanna were coming up missing. The "crime" happened in broad daylight under the watchful eye of a doorbell camera.
That led Vanna's owner, Craig Levine, to solve his own mystery.
"I am wondering, 'am I going crazy? Am I misplacing these things,'" said Levine. "I was looking all over my house, looking all over my yard."
Levine did some digging of his own, scrolling back through his doorbell camera video.
"Lo and behold, the beans were spilled! There was a pooch pirate," he said.
The "suspect" turned out to be a beautiful --- but cunning --- golden retriever.
"I was absolutely dumbfounded. It was crazy. He was coming over here, looking around. And he was looking almost to see if anyone was watching," Levine said.
Levine kept snooping around and eventually found out the retriever had an accomplice: a human of his own.
"Apparently this became a ritual. And I found out that this happened at the same time every day," Levine added.
After spotting the duo a few more times on film, Levine decided it was time to make them talk.
"I tried to set up a sting," he said.
He feigned a phone call and waited in the street for them to strike.
"I said, 'ma'am. are you letting the dog off the leash to come into my yard and steal my Frisbees?' And she's like, 'Oh, I'm sorry, they're retrievers.' And I'm like, 'Are you actually kidding me? Did you just say they're retrievers?'" he explained.
Levine said the woman seemed sorry, but wouldn't give up her real identity.
"I asked her her name and she said, 'Kat,''' he said, though Levine is unconvinced.
Levine and Vanna left the duo with a warning.
"Beware of pooch pirates because that's the next thing we have to look out for here in Atlanta," he said.
This case did have a happy ending. The next time Levine came outside to play with Vanna, her Frisbees were returned in perfect condition.