Timothy Fresta, a U.S. Navy veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder and physical problems, is asking the public to help find his missing service dog, a 3-year-old German shepherd named Jared.
The dog was last seen May 22 at Fresta’s home on Angela Drive southwest of Hillsboro.
Fresta, 35, has not given up hope in finding his friend, and each day continues to search for him.
“I love the dog,” he said. “I just want him back. I’ve spent hours and hours searching for him.”
Fresta is offering a $2,500 reward for Jared’s “safe and unharmed return.”
“We have hope the dog can be found,” said Luke Reinhold of Dogs That Help. “Maybe somebody picked him up just to rescue him.”
He said he can only guess what could have happened to Jared.
“My speculation is either he had an altercation with an animal or there was a deer and he decided to chase after it,” Fresta said. “It could have been another animal and he could have fled.”
The Dogs That Help nonprofit organization based in High Ridge, which provides service and PTSD dogs to veterans and first responders, donated Jared to Fresta, who served in the Navy from 2007 to 2013.
He said Jared helps him with his PTSD and provides him with stability.
“We went through training together,” Fresta said.
Reinhold stressed the importance of Jared in Fresta’s life.
“They have been a working team for three years,” Reinhold said. “These dogs make it so vets can live again.”
He said volunteers with the Dogs That Help group also have been searching for Jared.
“We’ve all been going door to door,” he said. “If anybody has any information, please contact Jared or myself.”
Fresta can be reached at 314-277-3332 and Reinhold at 314-223-2621.
Jared was named after Jared Smith, a U.S. Marine killed in the Afghanistan withdrawal in 2021.