Names, locations and leads

Hi Everyone,

The search for Mattie is not going well. We have investigated a lot of leads and seen a lot of dogs but I'm afraid that we're coming up empty.

We always seem to get back to a few characters and a small area near 5616 Park Lane (link) and 5960 Harney (link).  We found Mattie's crate and some of our belongings in this area. We've always heard that "Henry" had Mattie at one time. We think that James Holmes is "Henry" and is also known as "Binkie". He's currently in jail on unrelated car theft charges. We've had him interrogated and he denies knowing anything about Mattie or the car theft.

Our car was involved in a high speed chase in Cape Girardeau with Darnell Riley and James Butler being apprehended. We've taiked to both of them and they deny ever seeing a dog. Darnell gave us our initial clue to search the Harney neighborhood. James Butler is still in jail and we're hoping to hear from him when he gets out.

The name Tracy Singleton comes up often. We think that she is related to James Holmes and James Butler. We've had her on the phone a few times and tried to track her down, but she's been very elusive; she moves a lot.

Our hope remains that Mattie was set free in the Park Lane/Harney area as we've been told. We've been told that one of the kids hit him with a golf club and he ran off. Based on sightings, we think he took off towards Jennings and from there he seems to have disappeared.

If anyone knows anything about what happened or knows the people involved we would love to hear from you! In the meantime we'll keep hoping and checking out any leads we can get.

Special note to Darnell Riley, James Butler, and James Holmes:  The criminal part of this case is over and yes we will pay you the reward no questions asked.  Contact us!

Alice and Tom Matthews
616-706-6026

Still searching, 15 months later

An open letter from Tom & Alice Matthews:

Hi Everybody,

Just wanted to let everyone know that we’re still searching for Mattie 15 months later. We still like to think that he was set free and was running around near Park Lane and Harney as we were told by numerous people. We hope he was picked up by someone who doesn’t know that we’re looking for him. Unfortunately we haven’t run into this person yet. We realize that there is always that ugly possibility that he was killed, but we just can’t imagine someone doing that, so we’re going to continue to be a little hopeful.

If anyone knows anything about what happened in the days following his theft, we’d appreciate it if you’d let us know.

If anyone wants to investigate the criminal aspects of this case please contact us for information [names, locations, etc.] at 616-706-6026 or via e-mail. The reward is still good and we hope to have the opportunity to pay it someday.

PLEASE NOTE -- There also exists a smaller reward for his collar or tags that isn’t widely known about except in the immediate neighborhood around Harney.

We’re going to keep tracking down leads as we’ve been doing for the last year. We certainly do appreciate and thank all the people that have helped us in the search and also for the moral support that they’ve given us. The wonderful people we’ve met have been a bright spot in this ordeal. They have really been something!

Thanks again,
Alice and Tom