A thief stole her car, dog and faith in humanity. The next 24 hours changed everything

A nightmare scenario for any dog lover played out in Fort Worth this week and former TCU soccer player Makenzie Koch was at the center of it.

Koch was at her apartment complex near the Woodshed Smokehouse and South University Drive, about to leave for a workout, when a man jumped into her Chevy Tahoe and took off with Riggins, her 4-year-old English Cream Golden Retriever inside.

Koch had just run to lock her apartment front door — only a few steps away from her parked car — when the man jumped in the driver’s seat.

This was at about 6:40 Tuesday evening.

“I turned around and this random man is getting in my car. I just started screaming and got behind my car,” said Koch, who attended Nolan Catholic and graduated from TCU in 2016.

When the thief realized Koch was not going to move, he made his getaway by driving on the sidewalk, through bushes and out of the complex.

“I chased him on foot but that didn’t last very long,” Koch said. “You’re looking at your dog in the back of the car while this random man drives it away.”

Koch contacted TCU police, who identified her stolen car on campus surveillance footage, moving through the area and taking a right on Granbury Road.

“I didn’t care about the car. I just cared about the dog,” Koch said. “Honestly, nobody in my life has slept since that dog was taken.”

The suspect apparently threw Koch’s phone out of the car near TCU’s campus, which she recovered. But after he turned on Granbury Road, there were few leads.

That’s when Koch employed Paw Boost, an online application that helps people recover lost pets by amplifying the information across multiple social media platforms. She also got help from family, friends and the community at large.

“We screamed some and then we got it together,” she said. “We were all hands on deck.”

Koch and crew searched all night and all Wednesday, which included a shameful scam by a Waco resident that had Koch’s parents Robby and Jennifer Koch driving to Waco in the middle of the night for nothing. Waco police got involved in that part of the ordeal.

During her search, Koch found three different Golden Retrievers but not Riggins, who is named after Tim Riggins, the “Friday Night Lights” character.

After getting home from searching all day at about 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, Koch encouraged her friends and family to “stay prayerful, stay faithful.”

Five minutes later her phone rang.

“You got a dog named Riggins?” a Grand Prairie police officer asked.

“Yes sir,” Koch replied.

“Well, I’m looking right at him, and your Tahoe, too,” the officer said.

“I just collapsed to my knees,” Koch said.

Police had found her Tahoe running with the air conditioner on parked at a Grand Prairie gas station.

“I don’t know, maybe he had a bonding moment with my dog,” Koch said of the thief. “My parents actually pulled up to [Riggins]. He was sitting shotgun in the cop’s car. He was smiling, like, ‘Where have you guys been?’”

The car thief must have had a change of heart. Even a credit card left in the car was still there. Koch reunited with Riggins at about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Riggins, for his part, didn’t seem fazed by the ordeal. He was being pampered more than usual Wednesday night, including some homemade pancakes. After being up for the previous 24 hours, Koch thought breakfast for dinner made sense.

“I think Tuesday night I had lost faith in humanity,” she said. “I didn’t know how evil [like this] could exist. But on Wednesday seeing people that I don’t know putting out signs and posters of my dog … it was cool to see the community come together.”

The “surreal” event cemented Koch’s faith in God and humanity, she said, and showed her social media can be a source for good.

“There’s a lot of downfalls, but I didn’t care about the car,” she said. “You can’t replace a dog. I mean, this dog is my life. God is more real than I’ve ever thought. There are more good people than bad in the world.”