Tucson police discovered two dead dogs recently, according to News 4 Tucson. Now, authorities are on the hunt for a man named Cyris Panos, whom the dogs’ parents believe tortured and killed the dogs.
Dog mom makes shocking discovery
Gabrielle Clark, Panos’ roommate, was the dog mom of Hazel-Marie, a 4-year-old Basset Hound.
“She was my baby,” she said.
On Friday morning, Clark went to work. She left Hazel-Marie with Panos as she frequently did. However, when she returned, both Panos and Hazel-Marie were gone.
Unable to figure out where they went, Clark called the police. Then, a friend phoned.
“She called me and said, ‘Hey, your roommate lit my dog on fire’ and at that moment I screamed and almost through the phone,” Clark recalled.
Clark decided to pack her things and leave, but she couldn’t find her suitcase. She finally found it outside in the yard, in the back of a broken-down car. The car belongs to Panos.
Clark again called the police. Officers uncovered Hazel-Marie, dead, inside the suitcase. The dog was stuffed there with her blanket.
“From what we know my dog was mutilated or tortured,” Clark told the news outlet.
Upon further investigation, Clark noticed that her dog’s prescription pills were in the blender. There were also traces of the medicine in Hazel-Marie’s food bowl. Clark now believes that Panos poisoned her dog.
The dog will undergo a necropsy to determine the cause of death.
Alleged dog murderer strikes again
The other dog parent allegedly targeted by Panos was “too distraught to speak” with News 4 Tucson. But their roommate, Angelyssa Hudson, did an interview with the news outlet. Hudson claims that Panos came to her home and said he was going on a walk. Panos asked to bring Ellie, the roommate’s Dachshund–Terrier, along with him for company.
“He (Panos) had come here, they picked him up, because he was going through some stuff. He acted completely normal when he asked for the dog,” Hudson said.
When Panos returned to the home without Ellie, the dog’s parent and their roommates became concerned. Panos said he gave the dog to an unhoused person.
Several people went out in search of Ellie, but didn’t find her. When they came back, there was a fire blazing in a fire pit. They recognized Ellie’s body in the flames.
They called the police. An investigation into who killed and tortured the dogs is underway.
Police searching for man who allegedly tortured and killed dogs
Panos is currently at large.
“Nobody knows where he’s at, no one knows what his next move is,” Hudson said.
“Nobody knows what he’s capable of,” Clark added.
However, the victims shared that Panos also goes by the name Lexi Leaves, and performs in drag shows across Arizona.
“This blow came even harder because he introduced me to the community as someone like a sister to him and his drag mom,” Ellie’s dog parent said.
They do not understand why Panos would want to hurt their dog.