Police investigating after dogs that got loose in Hunker found shot in New Stanton woods

State police are investigating after two pet dogs that escaped from their Hunker home last week were found dead of apparent gunshot wounds, officials said.

Hunters discovered the dogs — Hagrid, 5, and Aspen, 4 — in the woods behind Calvary Baptist Church in New Stanton with gunshot wounds to the head, said Trooper Steve Limani, spokesman for the Greensburg barracks. The hunters on Saturday notified the family, who had been searching for the dogs for two days.

“They were definitely very important parts of our family, so it’s rough,” said Caraline McElfresh, 25, who owned the dogs with husband, Skyler Zimmerman. “Our daughter’s at an age now where she’s starting to ask questions, and we don’t really have the answers yet.”

No arrest has been made. Police didn’t immediately have a suspect.

McElfresh said the dogs got loose Thursday. She noted that they had escaped in the past but typically went to a neighbor’s home. After realizing they were not there, Zimmerman searched the neighborhood. McElfresh made a Facebook post asking anybody who saw the dogs to notify her.

The post was shared among neighbors who said they had spotted the dogs near the woods Friday.

“Some people that live right near me had said they had seen them right by the woods that they were found in. They had seen them going up there,” McElfresh said. “They had told us that on Friday night, that was the last time they were seen and so then Saturday morning …we went and hiked that ground for a couple hours and we were yelling for them.”

By Saturday night, the couple was notified that the dogs had been found. They recovered the animals and called state police.

“We didn’t see anything that would lead us to believe the dogs were killed there,” Limani said. “It looked like they might have been killed somewhere else.”

The Pennsylvania Game Commission is asking hunters in the area to check trail cameras for potential information related to the case.

“I believe most people are good and most of the neighborhood has been rallying behind us,” McElfresh said.