After Colorado dog breeder’s suspicious death, officials search for missing puppies

Paul Peavey’s body was found at the bottom of a hill near his house in Colorado, United States, on Saturday, covered by sticks, stones and rubbish, according to Bruce Boynton, a friend who discovered his remains. Boynton reported the body to local law enforcement, which began investigating Peavey’s death as a homicide.

A quantity of gold and silver jewellery was missing from Peavey’s house in Idaho Springs, his front door was left open, and his home was trashed, Boynton told the Washington Post. But the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office is focusing on other pieces of evidence to try to track down the suspects and their motive: Peavey’s dogs.

Peavey, 57, ran a business breeding European Dobermans, and about 10 of his microchipped puppies were missing from the shed behind his house, which Peavey called the “pup hut”, when sheriff’s deputies searched the property.

The sheriff’s office asked anyone who recently purchased a Doberman puppy in central Colorado or directly from Peavey to check the dogs for a microchip and contact local authorities.

“Locating Mr Peavey’s unaccounted-for puppies may also help solve his homicide,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement Monday.

Peavey raised Dobermans on his 44-hectare property – about 50km west of Denver – and delivered two litters each year, according to the website for his business, Elite European Dobermans. Peavey trained each dog to be “not only a trusted companion but also a skilled guardian”, his website said.

“That was his life,” said Boynton, 48. “I mean, that’s what kept him going, was those dogs.”

Boynton, who owns Pick Axe Pizza, a restaurant a few kilometres from Peavey’s home, said he developed a friendship with Peavey in roughly the past five years.

Peavey ate stromboli from Pick Axe Pizza a few times a week, according to Boynton. The duo visited beaches and lakes in state parks, carrying metal detectors in the hopes of finding jewellery, Boynton said. They attended concerts for their favourite bands, including the Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd and Agent Orange, he said.

Paul Peavey, who bred Dobermans, was found dead at the bottom of a hill near his house in Colorado, United States this month. Photo / Elite European Dobermans

On August 21, Boynton said he received a call from one of Peavey’s friends, informing him that Peavey had not been answering his phone for about two days. Boynton said he drove on an off-road trail leading to Peavey’s house and broke into his gate to find what he believed was a crime scene.

All of Peavey’s vehicles – his Honda Element, Chevrolet truck, motorcycle and Jeep – were there, Boynton said, but Peavey, who lived alone, wasn’t. Peavey’s gun, metal detector equipment and jewellery were missing from his house, Boynton said, and so were his puppies. The door to his dogs’ shed was open, Boynton said, and a few adult Dobermans roamed the yard.

“My head went straight to the worst,” Boynton said.

Boynton said he called local law enforcement to report Peavey missing. A Clear Creek County deputy visited Peavey’s property the following day, Sheriff Matthew Harris said in a statement, but he didn’t find Peavey’s body.

Frustrated that Peavey had not been found, Boynton said he organised a search party Saturday morning that included about 50 neighbours. Within about five minutes of arriving on Peavey’s property, Boynton said, his group smelled a dead body and found Peavey about eight metres from his house. Boynton said Peavey had a gunshot wound but declined to say where he appeared to be shot, citing the ongoing investigation.

“I felt a lot of sadness and a lot of anger,” Boynton said.

Harris, the sheriff, issued an apology after the neighbours found Peavey’s body.

“How we handled the initial call is not acceptable,” Harris said in a statement. “I want to thank our community members who mobilised the search team for Mr Peavey, and I sincerely apologise to those who had the unfortunate experience of finding Mr Peavey.”

Boynton said he believes Peavey was killed so someone could steal and sell his puppies. A European Doberman puppy can sell for more than US$3000 ($4800) in the United States, according to Doberman Planet, a website that shares tips on training the dogs.

Boynton called the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office, which took Peavey’s body to the county coroner’s office. Chris Hegmann, the coroner, told the Post on Wednesday he was performing an autopsy but wouldn’t have finalised results for a few weeks.

The sheriff’s office said in a statement Monday that the stolen puppies might have been sold through social media since August 20. Boynton said he’s assisting local law enforcement in their investigation “every minute”, partly by searching for where Peavey’s beloved puppies ended up.

“Once it’s over,” he said, “I get to mourn and sleep.”