How the search for Juju would involve thousands of strangers.
How his life would be in jeopardy due to the careless search for a missing puppy.
And how Juju would eventually return home after an enigmatic years-long absence.
Courtesy of Jared Mula
Courtesy of Jared Mula
The vehicle turns up, but the dog is gone
In 2020, something was changed. People were altered by the seclusion. A few exhibited worse-than-normal behavior. Others assumed a greater responsibility and a greater concern for the well-being of people. Many of these others replied to Jared Mula’s initial Facebook post regarding his missing dog.
Mula wrote, “I don’t care about the car.”I only want to get my puppy back. Please help me get Juju back home by telling your friends about this message.
The fact that the ad provided a monetary prize most likely helped. A thousand people shared it. Then 10,000. And lastly, over 100,000. Mula claimed that a well-known actor from a well-liked Netflix serial was among the sharers. Mula received a ton of buddy requests. After putting his phone number in the article, he began receiving hundreds of calls every day. Others traveled from other states or even foreign nations. Pet psychics sent Mula unsolicited SMS messages. It was nice. It was heartwarming. It was all a bit too much at times.
Mula required concrete proof. It was limited. He woke up to a note from the police two days after the Range Rover was taken. Southeast Atlanta was where the SUV had been discovered, deserted. There was no Juju inside.
Mula visited apartment buildings close to the scene of the car’s discovery, knocking on doors. He posted flyers using Juju’s photo with his friends. Juju was spotted in a field close to I-20, according to a tip. Mula used a worker’s dog to search the land. Something was stepped on by the dog. Perhaps a ground-nesting bee hive. Mula and the dog received numerous stings.
Someone contacted one day to report that Juju might be with a homeless person near Georgia Tech, under a bridge. Mula took a car to investigate. He exited the vehicle and strolled beneath the bridge. There was shouting. He failed to spot a dog. Mula frantically opened a tent flap, hoping that whoever was inside would provide information. He claimed that the person pulled a gun instead.
Mula apologized and raised his hands. A flier he left outside the tent.
A private eye takes the case and gets an unpleasant surprise
While working a case, private detective Craig Brazeman once saved an abandoned puppy named Buster. Brazeman isnota pet detective certainly not full-time, anyway but he s become the guy some people call when pets disappear. particularly if they are stolen. The pet cases are free of charge at Brazeman. He once helped recover two French bulldogs who d been snatched away from a veterinary clinic.
Whether anybody wants to admit it or not, he said recently, in the basement of his home in Buckhead, where a desk with four computer monitors sat near aMortal Kombatarcade machine, there is an underground market forstolen dogs.
Credit: Courtesy Photo
Credit: Courtesy Photo
Neither Mula nor Brazeman thought Juju had been stolen intentionally. Juju appeared to be an accidental casualty of an auto theft. And so Brazeman began looking into an auto-theft ring.
Thieves were hard at work in Buckhead during the pandemic. Range Roverskept disappearing. The actor Tyrese Gibson had his Range Rovertaken from his driveway. The rapper Akon waspumping gas at a QuikTripwhen someone got in the driver s seat and drove away.
Credit: POUYA DIANAT / [email protected]
Credit: POUYA DIANAT / [email protected]
Brazeman got to work. He examined the surveillance video from Whole Foods and from outside the store where Mula s Range Rover was found. He started talking to people. And he was pretty sure he d identified some suspects. But when he interviewed relatives of these suspects, it seemed that none of them had ever seen Juju. That led Brazeman to believe that no one connected with the thieves was keeping Juju as a pet.
Still, the tips kept coming in. People shared pictures of Juju that had obviously been altered. Callers had specific information about Juju s collar and harness. Some were obviously running scams to try to get the reward money. None of the tips led anywhere.
One day Brazeman was in East Point, chasing another lead on Juju. It must be said: A lot of people from Buckhead have Range Rovers. Brazeman was filling his Range Rover s tank at a gas station when he saw the brake lights go on. The bad guys had done the same thing to Akon. Someone got in the driver s seat and drove the Range Rover away.
Unwilling to concede the loss, Brazeman gave chase on foot. He nearly caught up with the thief at an intersection. But the thief hit the gas, he said, and plowed into a tree. Then the thief got out and escaped.
Basically, Brazeman said, the front end of my Range Rover exploded.
Time passed. The trail went cold. A breeder in Alabama told Mula he could have the pick of a litter. And that s how, in 2021, he got a new goldendoodle puppy named Juice.
He became the love of my life, you know? Mula said.
Around 2023, one of Mula s employees FaceTimed him from Tampa to show him another adorable dog. A cross between a toy poodle and a Maltese, also known as a Maltipoo. Mula couldn t say no. That s how he got Herbie, his second replacement dog.
One afternoon about four months ago, Mula was pulling into the office parking lot when he got a phone call from Petkey. The company keeps a database of microchips that have been implanted into pets to track their location. Petkey had an important message for Mula. He needed to go to the Petsmart on Howell Mill Road.
Mula ran upstairs to tell his employees the news.
I found Juju, he said.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
How Juju finally came home
The particulars of Juju s life from August 2020 to March 2025 remain unknown to Mula. Where did he go after the Range Rover was stolen? Did someone else keep him as a pet? If so, why was he found wandering downtown Atlanta almost five years after he disappeared?
All those mysteries aside, Aniyah Anderson has a few answers. Whatever else may be true, she is the reason Juju came home.
Anderson, 25, lives in an apartment north of the Georgia Aquarium. In a phone interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Anderson said she saw what she thought was a stray dog in the parking lot. It was March 17, 2025. She opened the car door. The dog got in. She called out to ask if anyone owned the dog. No one said they did.
Anderson had never owned a pet before. She liked this dog. He was so friendly and well-behaved. She took him to get a bath. She bought a dog bed and some dog food. She gave him a name: Zen.
I felt like he chose me, she said.
Anderson believed she had found a new pet. There was just one more thing to do. She took the dog to Petsmart on Howell Mill Road, where he was checked for a microchip.
Yes, he had one.
We ll have to call the owners, someone told her.
There, outside the store, she met Mula. He told her the backstory and thanked her for finding Juju.
At the time, she said, I didn t even really feel happy about it.
But eventually she felt better. Mula gave her a cash reward. Anderson went on Craiglist and found another dog, an Aussiedoodle puppy she named Zeina. It all pretty much worked out.
Credit: Courtesy Aniyah Anderson
Credit: Courtesy Aniyah Anderson
As for Juju, he d beengone so long that Mula wasn t sure Juju remembered him. But when he took the dog home, to the seventh-floor loft in Buckhead, Juju smelled the old smells and seemed to light up.
They were all together on a recent afternoon, Mula and Juju and Juice and Herbie. Mula never intended to have three dogs, but life is full of surprises, some bad, and some good. The three dogs got along fine. Juju was on the couch, noisily chewing on a bone. Mula threw a toy, and Juju fetched.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Wherever he d been all that time, someone had apparently taken decent care of him. He had no heartworms, no fleas. He d had plenty to eat, too, and was slightly overweight.
That s the only thing about all this, Mula said. I just wannaknow.
He will probably never know the details of Juju s odyssey. And in one way, it doesn t matter. These are the most important things: Juju was lost. Juju was found. And now Juju is home to stay.
He won t leave my side, Mula said.
I don t even need a leash.
Jared Mula s dog Juju vanished in 2020 when Mula s vehicle was stolen. Five years later, they had a loving reunion. (Miguel Martinez/AJC)
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
