BY ART BUKOWSKI
Editor's note: Newsmakers '09 explores the stories that made headlines in northwestern Michigan in 2009. Past articles in this series can be read online at record-eagle.com/newsmakers.
TRAVERSE CITY -- Things just aren't the same for Jan Zimmerman.
The Garfield Township woman struggles with a suffocating sense of unease months after someone killed "Possum Pie," her beloved poodle mix of three years. She found the dog's dead and partially burned body near her home not long after letting him out the evening of April 12.
Zimmerman, who lives in Meadow Lane mobile home park off M-37, checks the locks on her doors more frequently, and she's litter-trained "Crikit," her new dog, for fear of a repeat incident.
"I'm still afraid to let this dog go outside," she said, gesturing to the small Pomeranian mix. "She's nine months old and she isn't even outdoor-trained yet, and that's just because I'm afraid."
Police never identified a motive and still haven't solved the crime, but Zimmerman is hopeful investigators will one day pin down a suspect. The incident is still much discussed in the mobile home park.
"People to this day come to the door and ask, 'Are they working on it? Have they figured it out?'" she said. "One day I'll have news for them."
Possum was tied up in the yard, but his leash, collar and tags never surfaced.
Police administered a polygraph test to a youth who lives near Zimmerman after receiving a tip, Grand Traverse County Undersheriff Nate Alger said, but the youth passed the exam. There haven't been any solid tips since, and Alger contends police will need one to solve the crime.
"The longer this goes, certainly it gets more and more difficult," he said. "We've talked to the people we can talk to, and we become reliant upon tips."
But Alger believes the perpetrator eventually will blab about the crime, and he's hopeful someone will do the right thing.
"If whoever did this talks to someone who has a sense of decency, they're going to call us," he said.
Zimmerman hopes the crime is solved before the dog killer harms another animal, or even a human.
"I still feel the same as I've always felt: Somebody needs help," Zimmerman said. "Somebody who did that needs to get some help. I don't think a normal person or a person with no problems could do something like that ... what's next?"
Meanwhile, Possum's Christmas stocking hangs on the wall of Zimmerman's home, and she had a large quilt made from a photo of the dog.
"He's a part of this house," she said. "He's still here."
Anyone with information on the crime is asked to call 995-5152 or Silent Observer at 947-TIPS.
