Round Lake Beach man reunited with his dog following burglary

Keith Roberts couldn’t believe it when police showed up at his Round Lake Beach house Wednesday night with a surprise in their arms.

They were holding Gracie, his white Pomeranian that has been missing for almost two weeks after a burglary.

“Four police officers showed up at my door and had the greatest grins on their faces,” Roberts said Thursday. “I wasn’t expecting to ever see her again.”

It was June 9 when Roberts returned home to discover his house had been burglarized sometime between 12:30 and 9:30 p.m. While sifting through the chaos, he realized Gracie was no longer in the house.

His other pets, a black Pomeranian named Cody and three cats, were still there.

Round Lake Beach police officers with the investigations division, detectives, and members of the special operations unit all searched for Gracie, trying to get down to the bottom of the case.

“Our main priority at that time was to reunite the owner with Gracie,” Deputy Chief of Police Rich Chiarello said. “Everyone worked together pursuing leads and other investigative reports that resulted in Gracie’s being reunited with her owner.”

Police are still evaluating the case and are unable to release any more information.

“The potential that she had been stolen still exists,” Chiarello said. “After the investigation is complete, we’re going to present the info to the state’s attorney and see if any charges have been brought.”

All that matters to Roberts right now is Gracie is safe and sound.

“She looked good when she arrived,” he said. “Whoever had her, they seemed to have taken care of her.”

A little nervous at first, Gracie soon settled in and began playing with her brother Cody and the other cats.

Roberts couldn’t be happier.

“The Round Lake Beach Police Department brought my little sweetheart home, and I want to thank them and anyone else who helped in bringing her home,” he said.