GULFPORT, Miss. (WLOX) – ”Our hearts were broken,” said Kim Cospelich. “You’re looking for him, and you just don’t know. You just don’t know.”
Kim Cospelich fought back tears when talking about the cat she owns who had become a staple in her Gulfport community. She said Buddy has been beloved in the area since he arrived seven years ago.
“Everybody that comes in the flower shop just loves him,” she said. “They just talk about him. They just say he’s so big and so pretty. I mean there’s a lot of people that love Buddy and they just want to try to find him.”
Last week, Buddy was stolen. Security video captured the moment the Russian Blue cat was taken from Sticky Fingers Sno-Balls. You can see a person driving a white SUV pick him up and put him in the vehicle before driving off.
The cat theft comes on the heels of beloved Ocean Springs bird, Carl the Rooster’s, death. Cospelich said she’s using similar investigation methods to hopefully reconnect her with the cat who belonged to her and the neighborhood.
“I love how they came together and found out what happened,” she said. “Maybe they can do that with us too to help bring him home and find out what happened.”
Cospelich, who owns multiple businesses on 42nd Avenue, has filed a police report. Now, she’s sitting and waiting for any information leading her to, what she calls, a loved one.
“I know it’s not a human, but he was part of our family,” she said. “He was a unique cat, really. We miss him dearly. We do.”
A $500 reward is being offered for anyone who can bring Buddy home.
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