Florida house sitter arrested weeks after allegedly stealing Colorado airmans dog who was later found dead inside abandoned car
A house sitter accused of stealing a US airman’s beloved dog and car while he was deployed overseas was captured weeks after the beloved husky was found dead inside the abandoned vehicle at a luxury apartment complex.Andrew Jansen, 28, was found hiding out in Miami-Dade County on Saturday after he allegedly stole Andrew Beckham’s 11-year-old husky, Maverick, and left the pooch for dead over 2,100 miles in Aurora, Colo., the airman told The Post.“I wish his family would have come forward about Andy’s location so I could have had a chance in saving Maverick,” Beckham said.“I’m relieved he is custody now, and not possibly hurting other people.”Beckham had found Jansen, who is from Palmetto Bay, Fla., through TrustedHouseSitters — which connects pet owners with suitable sitters — to watch the home and Maverick while the US servicemember was deployed overseas in early April.Jansen had been staying at Beckham’s home in Aurora, Colo., during his housesitting gig.
The dog sitter was captured on doorbell footage one night taking Maverick outside and into Beckham’s Subaru Forester before driving off without notice.Beckham lost contact with the alleged dognapper and reported the two missing to police.Beckham raced back home to Colorado on April 22 to join the emergency search for his dog, but came up empty-handed until May 2.Maverick was found dead inside Beckham’s missing vehicle, which police discovered abandoned in the private gated garage of a luxury apartment complex in Denver, a month after it was reported stolen.Police are investigating how and when the car showed up at the private garage and when Jansen skipped town.“He was trapped in the car for a long time,” Beckham told CBS Miami on Saturday.“He had a lot of blood on his face.
They’re still trying to figure out why and what happened.”Photos obtained by The Post show the memorial Beckham created at home for Maverick, including tufts of the beloved dog’s hair, impressions of his...