Shadow

Overview

Shadow refers to a mixed-breed dog who's severed head was posted on 4chan's /b/ (random) board on January 20th, 2010. Soon after, users of the board started to dox the poster with the help of a later photograph that they determined was taken in the same house. The house was confirmed to be inhabited by Sarah Rodriguez, a self-proclaimed werewolf from San Antonio, Texas who goes by the username "WolfieBlackheart". The incident was eventually picked up by local media after the police were informed.

Background

On January 20th, 2010 a photograph depicting an outstretched hand holding a severed dog's head was posted to 4chan's /b/ (random) board, prompting board users to to dox the poster. After exif data was found in the original image, another photograph was posted depicting a shirtless, muscular man flexing (later revealed to be Mark, a friend of Sarah's). The second photograph was determined, based on the similar wall and pantry depicted in the first image, to be taken in the same house where the original photograph was taken. With the help of other boards on 4chan, users of /b/ were able to dox all those involved. An IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channel on Freenode named #longcat was set up to facilitate the exchange of information related to the incident. A member of the channel claiming to be Sarah's friend Christina Ramos explained that no one killed the dog as previously thought, rather, the dog was a stray that was taken in by Ramos, he escaped his enclosure and was hit by a truck, later dying on the way to the vet. Ramos further explained that it was her friends, including Sarah, that beheaded the dog.

Notable Developments

Communication with Michael Kraft

A communication with Michael Kraft, another one of Sarah's friends revealed that the original photograph was indeed taken in Sarah's house.

Communication from Christina

A telephone call from Christina to a /b/ user claiming that Michael Kraft took the dog in and gave it to Christina to look after. The dog then jumped the fence and after attempting to retrieve it, Christina allegedly stopped caring and left, leaving the dog loose. A while later, Christina received a call from her grandmother informing her that the dog had been hit by a truck. The dog later died en route to the vet. The dog's body was left with a friend who was to prepare it for burial but instead was mutilated by an unnamed friend of Christina's. The friend then took the pictures and sent them to Michael.

Media Attention.

An interview with Sarah from the San Antonio Express-News, a local newspaper, revealed that sometime in 2009 the dog, now named Rigsby, was dropped off at the home of Kathy Silva. Later, On January 5th, 2010 the dog went missing form the Silva's backyard. On June 20th, 2010 someone approached Silva near her home and said he was conducting a survey of the dogs in the area, Silva informed her that the dog they had ran away. Later that day, Silva was shown a website containing the original picture and contacted the police who investigated the page. They came upon Sara's username "WolfieBlackheart" and informed Silva that a person with that username was arrested after she walked onto a campus at nearby Northside Independent School District carrying a curved blade. Sarah's mother explained that it was a skinning knife. ^[1]

Search Interest

External References

^[1] Wayback Machine – Self-described wolf woman severed lost dog's head