A little boy has written a heartbreaking letter to Father Christmas pleading with him to safely return his dog after it was swiped by callous thieves.
Edward Latter
Edward Latter wrote a heartbreaking letter to Father Christmas after his best friend Morse, a nine-month-old border terrier, was stolen by callous thieves
Now little Edward, who turns three on Saturday, has written to Santa in the hope he will help bring his beloved pet back for Christmas Day.
The two-year-old sent the note addressed to Lapland in the hope Santa will help bring his best friend home in time for Christmas day
His dad Richard, 40, helped the heartbroken youngster pen the letter, which has been posted to Lapland.
The tot wrote: ‘Dear Father Christmas,
‘I just want one present for Christmas this year, my dog Morse back.
‘I’ve been a very good boy all year. Thank you, Edward aged two and three quarters’.
Edward’s dad Richard, 40, helped him write the adorable letter which tells Father Christmas how good the tot has been this year
A woman rang the family to say she had seen Morse being bundled into a pick-up truck by an opportunistic couple
The lovable youngster has been out and about in his home village of Marden
‘At first we really tried to play it down to Edward, almost ignoring the fact that Morse was not in the house.
‘We said he was on an adventure and would be back soon.
‘But of course he started asking ‘where is Morse?’ ‘Has he gone to the beach?’ It’s heartbreaking to hear him say it.
‘They are such good pals and he’s really missing Morse.
‘It was Edward’s idea to write to Santa and hopefully writing the letter to Father Christmas will just give us the happy ending we are so desperate for.’
The devastated youngster desperately wants to be reunited with his beloved pet and has been out putting up ‘missing’ posters around his home village of Marden in Kent
‘But he was a bit of an escape artist unfortunately and was able to dig himself out under the garden fence but he’d never got very far before now.
‘Normally I found him on the road outside or once a couple spotted him and read his tag and called us to say that they’d found him and could we come to collect him.’
Edward and Morse have been inseparable since Edward was very little. The pair are pictured playing together on the local beach
The pooch disappeared last Wednesday just before 11am.
Edward’s parents believe he was nabbed within five minutes of escaping just 80 yards from their garden and took to social media to help trace him.
The witness who rang the family said she’d seen a man putting Morse into a blue or grey Hi-Lux-type pick-up truck, but unfortunately her dash cam wasn’t working.
She said the man got out and told her he ‘knew the owner’ and was planning to return the dog.
The pair were also spotted at a burger van close to the family’s house where a dog could be heard barking, but CCTV was deleted as the business only had a small memory stick.
‘There were several other cars which had to stop behind the truck – they were practically stopped in the middle of the road so people will have seen what was going on,’ said Richard.
Morse had escaped from the family’s Kent home when he was allegedly stolen by the couple
‘The woman who phoned us had stopped her car as she had seen Morse running down the road and was going to pick him up.
‘Almost in the same moment the chap got out of the Hi-Lux-type truck and picked him up saying ‘don’t worry, the dog belongs to a friend of ours. We will take it back to them.
‘It was outrageous nerve from the man.
‘I just feel a bit better knowing that Morse is not out in the cold, running scared around the countryside.
‘There are lots of places for Morse to hide in our garden so I did not initially realise he had gone.
‘It was only after about five minutes of calling for him that I started to worry that something might not be right.
‘I phoned some family members to ask them to help me look for him and after about 45 minutes I was really starting to panic.
‘We phoned the police who, at that stage, told us to get in touch with the local dog warden and the kennels in the area.’
Edward’s dad Richard, 40, has appealed to the dog-nappers to do the right thing and return the beloved pet
Richard appealed directly to the dog-nappers to do the right thing for his boy.
‘I don’t really care what your motive was for taking Morse, but please just release him.
‘Just take him to a vets anonymously or even just tie him up outside a shop and walk away and a passerby will see him and hand him in.’
Richard and solicitor Amanda are offering an undisclosed reward for the safe return of Morse.