[UPDATE BELOW] A 29-year-old woman suffered both a physical and emotional gut punch this weekend when she was assaulted in a Queens park and robbed of her 5-year-old cocker spaniel, Ginger.
The victim, whom the Daily News identified as 29-year-old Lora Panossian, told reporters she and Ginger were walking through Crocheron Park in Bayside at around 10 p.m. on Sunday night when two men approached her and began asking about the dog. As one distracted her with questions, the other attacked her.
"One guy bent down, he was very friendly, he was asking me a lot of questions about Ginger, and the other guy came and sucker punched me in the gut,” Panossian told CBS 2. “I lost my breath and I fell down, and the other guy picked up the dog and they ran down the stairs.”
According to a post from Panossian's friend on Reddit, Panossian heard a car "peeling out" while she was regaining her breath after getting punched.
Two men were in Crocheron Park where the stairs are to walk down to the pond. Not the stairs by the highway and gazebos, the stairs that are closer to the hill. She didn't get a great look at them. The park was closed but many people in the neighborhood walk their dogs there throughout the night. Half of the park is lit up all night. She was in the dark side, however. This all happened around 10pm. We filed a report and they sent detectives out here.
Panossian canvassed the area and filed a police report, but Ginger is still missing.
Ginger is described as a blonde cocker spaniel weighing about 25 pounds and donning a yellow and green Star Wars collar with Yoda on it. Anyone with information can contact the family by email, at HelpLoraFindGinger@gmail.com.
Update 5:44 p.m.: Kidnapped cocker spaniel Ginger was found dead in Crocheron Park by Parks Department workers today, according to the NY Post.
Parnossian had reportedly owned Ginger since the dog was four months old. The following message was posted on a Facebook page launched soon after she was taken:
Ginger has been found dead in Crocheron park today by parks workers who then contacted the detectives at the 111. At this point now, our attention must now be turned towards justice. I beg all of you to please come forward with any kind of information that might be helpful towards the investigation. If anyone was around Saturday and Sunday night around 10pm and happened to notice any suspicious activity at the pond or surrounding area, we beg you to please come forward with the information. I will continue to update as we get more details surrounding Ginger's death. Thank you all for your time, tips, and efforts. Our community cannot allow for this kind of deplorable behavior to go unnoticed and unpunished. Any information at all will be greatly appreciated. Thank you all again.
