A Southern California mother is asking for help finding her missing cat after alleging that an Amazon delivery driver took the animal during a delivery.
Diane Huff-Medina, who lives in the Los Angeles area, said the incident happened on Thursday, Dec. 11. In a Facebook post, she wrote that an Amazon delivery person took the family’s cat after dropping off a package, adding that they simply want the cat returned safely.
Security video she shared — and later provided to KTLA — appears to show an Amazon Flex driver delivering a package at a home in Lakewood around 6 p.m. Before leaving, the driver notices a cat, pets it briefly, and then tries to pick it up. In the footage, the cat seems to resist. The driver then lifts the cat by the neck area and carries it to his vehicle.
Huff-Medina told KTLA the cat, Piper, is 6 years old and belongs to her and her three young sons. She said Piper is an indoor-outdoor cat and is microchipped, but was not wearing a collar at the time.
“She’s meowing at first, like normal. Then it sounds a little more distressed,” Huff-Medina told CBS News. “Then he just kinda more aggressively grabs her and carries her off like a raccoon or something. … It didn’t look like he was trying to save her, I don’t think.”
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“It’s a helpless feeling because we watched her get taken, so I don’t know where she is or if she’s okay,” she added to KTLA.
Huff-Medina told CBS News that after reviewing her security footage on Dec. 12, she reported the incident to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The report was filed on Monday, Dec. 15.
The department said officers identified a 37-year-old suspect. Investigators also said that during an interview, the suspect admitted to taking the cat and claimed he believed the animal was a stray at the time. The suspect told officers the cat later became restless and jumped out of his truck, and Piper has not been located. Authorities said no arrest was made, though detectives continue to investigate and the case could lead to misdemeanor charges.
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In a statement, an Amazon spokesperson said the company apologized to Huff-Medina and that the delivery partner involved is no longer eligible to deliver. The spokesperson also said Amazon is in contact with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office to share relevant information and will continue to support the investigation.
Huff-Medina told KTLA she has been trying to reassure her sons as they wait for Piper to come home. She said the family got the cat in 2019, two months after her sons’ father died in an accident. “They’re devastated and every day they ask, ‘Is she back yet?’ It’s hard to tell them,” she said.
“I just want my cat back for myself and for my kids, especially,” she told CBS News. “I have three little boys who love her. We want her back.”
