
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, September 14, 1993                   TAG: 9309140136
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WINCHESTER                                LENGTH: Medium

LOST DOG'S OWNER HAULED INTO COURT BY PET'S SITTER

A woman who has spent thousands of dollars searching for her dog since May has been summoned to court to answer charges that she threatened the man who lost the animal.

The summons is the latest trouble for Lindsay Goldstein, who launched a massive search after her dog, Peabody, disappeared in Frederick County. She bought newspaper and radio advertising, distributed full-color flyers and even hired psychics and a private investigator.

In return, she's received crank phone calls and letters and has been the victim of at least two extortion attempts.

Robert J. Holton of Winchester was arrested and charged with obtaining money under false pretenses after getting Goldstein to leave $500 in hopes of finding the dog. Two juveniles in Front Royal were charged with extorting $1,500 from her.

Her boyfriend, Peter Arian, who gave Goldstein the dog 2 1/2 years ago, has given up the search in frustration and their relationship is falling apart, she said.

On Friday, Goldstein received a summons to U.S. Superior Court in Washington, D.C., to answer charges of threats against Rusty Snider.

Snider is the man Goldstein and Arian were paying to care for Peabody when he took the dog to his weekend home in Frederick County and let the animal run loose. The dog hasn't been seen since.

In early May, Goldstein and Arian cut their French vacation short when Snider told them by phone that the dog was missing. In a subsequent conversation, Goldstein said that Snider said: "I'm sorry I lost your precious dog." She replied: "I'm going to kill you."

She didn't mean it literally, Goldstein said, but said it only in extreme frustration. She said she has not talked to Snider in four months, but that Arian has tried to get more information from him.

"I want to find my dog. And if he's dead, I want to find out," she said.

The search for Peabody has been expensive. One psychic, who traveled to the area twice with Goldstein and Arian, charged $100 an hour and, at first, said she sensed Peabody's trail following a power line. Then the psychic said she drew a blank.

"I don't have any more money to spend," said Goldstein, who said she has spent "thousands. I'm not broke. I just took all my savings and put it into this.

"A lot of people who have dogs, it does make sense to them," she said.

by CNB