Local News

Communities lead search for sheriff lieutenant’s lost dog with aid of police drone

The 3-year-old Catahoula leopard dog has been missing since Friday afternoon and was only briefly seen once since.

Cash, a 3-year-old Catahoula leopard dog, has been missing since Friday afternoon. Tanya Cubelli

May 3, 2026 | 11:18 AM

1 minute to read

A continuing search for a missing family dog in the Merrimack Valley has been beefed up with help from police-grade drone technology.

Cash, a 3-year-old Catahoula leopard dog, has been missing since he fled the family’s Haverhill home Friday afternoon. He belongs to Tanya Cubelli, a lieutenant at the Essex County Sheriff’s Department.

At about 1 p.m., Cash got spooked, ran out of Cubelli’s home, and darted into a nearby wooded area. Since then, family, friends, and community members have been searching almost nonstop.

“He could be anywhere,” Cubelli said. “He could be miles from here.”

Cash’s disappearance is unusual for a dog who reportedly never leaves his owner’s side, Jen Eastman, a family friend and Cubelli’s former co-worker, told Boston.com. Surrounding towns and their respective animal control offices in both Massachusetts and New Hampshire have been alerted to the search, Cubelli said.

The Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council provided a police-grade drone Friday to help track down Cash, according to Eastman. The drone used infrared and thermal imaging technology to detect heat signatures at night.

For a moment Friday evening, the drone had eyes on Cash, who was seen about 1,600 feet into the wooded area. However, he quickly took off and hasn’t been seen since, according to Cubelli.

Community members who spot Cash have been urged not to get close or call out to him. Though he is typically “very, very active” and friendly around people, he is also quite skittish and will flee if approached, Cubelli said.

Cubelli and her family are continuing their search Sunday and putting up fliers around town to alert the community. Anyone with information that could aid the search has been asked to call Cubelli at 978-857-6853.