Southeast
Missing dog in Virginia captured after 6 months on the run: 'Almost lost hope'
When Samantha Paulino of Arlington, Virginia, adopted a rescue dog from South Korea, she had no idea that her new pet would survive for six months on the run by herself, eluding attempts to rescue her along the way.
Paulino’s dog, Autumn, arrived in the United States in Sept. 2023. From the beginning, it was clear to the owner that Autumn had anxiety and “a tendency to let loose and just wanting to be independent.”
Much of Autumn’s history before her rescue is unknown, Paulino told Fox News Digital in an on-camera interview. (See the video at the top of this article.)
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The dog was estimated to be about 2 or 3 years old when she was adopted, and her breed is described as a “Finnish spitz mix.”
“They knew that she was found in the streets [of South Korea],” Paulino said.
Autumn was adopted by Samantha Paulino of Arlington, Virginia, after the dog was rescued from the streets of South Korea. (Samantha Paulino/@findingautumn_)
While Paulino experienced some of the typical growing pains associated with new dog ownership, she thought things had improved considerably by Dec. 2023.
“She was starting to lick me, show affection. She was starting to follow me and wanting to go on walks with me,” Paulino said.
Yet on Dec. 28, 2023, something spooked Autumn while on a walk in Arlington’s Virginia Square neighborhood — and she took off.
Despite the dog’s small size and weight – only about 12 pounds – nobody could catch her.
Despite her small size and weight – only about 12 pounds – nobody could catch her after that.
“She’s a speedster. She very much runs and speeds through everything,” Paulino said.
“So, if she gets loose and you try to chase her, she gets more frantic and just runs faster.”
Samantha Paulino of Arlington, Virginia jumped into action once her dog went missing. She printed flyers, alerted animal control authorities and posted about her missing dog on Instagram. (Fox News Digital)
With the dog gone, Paulino jumped into action immediately — printing flyers, alerting animal control authorities and posting about her missing dog on the Instagram account @findingAutumn_.
Sightings of Autumn were reported within days of her escape, but clever and speedy Autumn was always able to stay just out of reach of her would-be rescuers.
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At the end of December, Autumn was spotted near Arlington National Cemetery, and after that, there were basically no sightings for about a month.
“I can’t lie,” said Paulino. “I almost, you know, lost hope at that point.”
But then, in early February, a woman named Katie contacted Paulino to say that she thought she’d spotted Autumn at Arlington National Cemetery. The woman had been performing in a military band.
Autumn is shown here in both images. In early February, a woman said she thought she spotted Autumn at Arlington National Cemetery. (Samantha Paulino/@findingautumn/Animal Welfare League of Arlington)
Katie told Paulino she’d seen one of the lost dog flyers and was “100% sure” the dog she spotted was Autumn.
Autumn had made a home for herself at nearby Fort Myer, an Army post.
As it turns out, Autumn had made a home for herself at nearby Fort Myer, an Army post near Arlington National Cemetery.
Katie, a member of the military, was able to post Autumn’s lost dog flyers throughout Fort Myer because Paulino, a civilian, was not able to get on the base to do so.
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“By the time Katie started posting flyers on the base, people on the base had started figuring out that, ‘Oh, she’s not a base dog,’” Paulino said.
“People from the military live there, so they thought that maybe she was just a dog being let loose,” she said.
Once it was clear to residents of Fort Myer that Autumn was a lost dog with an owner who very much missed her, the Animal Welfare League of Arlington (AWLA) and its animal control team got involved.
After AWLA officials determined Autumn’s patterns and habits, they tried to lure her into a trap. Autumn, however, was too smart for their tactics. (Animal Welfare League of Arlington)
“They wouldn’t be able to invest their resources if there haven’t been accurate sightings of her,” Paulino said.
With the consistent sightings, the AWLA was able to establish Autumn’s patterns and habits and work from there to try to bring her home.
A representative from the AWLA told Fox News Digital in an email about the lengths the organization went to rescue Autumn.
“We felt confident that we could confine her.”
“We dedicated ourselves to tending to Autumn’s needs twice a day, going on-base (with permission) to feed her at her established feeding station, observing the area for her footprints and further familiarizing ourselves with her routines,” animal control services coordinator Anna Barrett said on behalf of the AWLA.
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After nearly six months of tracking and observing Autumn, “we reached that critical point when we felt confident that we could confine her,” Barrett said.
Trapping Autumn, despite her fairly small size, posed a challenge.
“Autumn would not be tricked into going inside a trap no matter what delicious treat sat just beyond the trip plate,” Barrett said. Instead, Autumn would sit on “her hill” and watch as her rescuers tried in vain to get her to (quite literally) take the bait.
“Autumn would not be tricked into going inside a trap no matter what delicious treat sat just beyond the trip plate.”
“Often, we’d sit quietly in our vehicles from afar and watch each other,” Barrett said.
The AWLA tried almost everything to catch Autumn — with no success.
Autumn even managed to evade “prototype traps that haven’t been commercially produced yet,” Paulino said.
Finally, using a “trap inside a trap,” Autumn fell for it on June 11, Paulino said.
A regular “box trap” was placed inside a “playpen type” of trap, she said, and her dog was finally captured.
Autumn is seen here after her long-awaited homecoming after spending months on the run. (Samantha Paulino/@findingautumn_)
And despite Autumn’s reticence to be captured, “once trapped, Autumn settled near to her rescuers, seemingly relieved that the long, lonely struggle had finally come to an end,” Barrett told Fox News Digital.
Autumn spent the night with the AWLA to — as Paulino described it — “decompress” from her six months on the run and then was finally reunited with her on Wednesday, June 12.
“It’s been a real process,” Paulino said. “It took a village to really get to the point where we are now.”
Even though Autumn spent nearly six months away from home, a veterinarian checked her out and found she was no worse for wear, Paulino said.
The next couple of weeks, as Autumn gets reacquainted to living in a house and with an owner, will be crucial, Paulino said. She is continuing to work with the AWLA to help Autumn transition into being a pet again.
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“She was the hardest, most difficult catch that they’ve ever had in [AWLA Chief of Animal Control] Jen [Toussaint]’s career,” said Paulino. “So they’re very invested in making sure that she doesn’t escape again because, especially for this next two weeks, she might really want to be out again.”
Autumn is now wearing a GPS tracker, just in case, and will be double-leashed for her walks going forward, she said.
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Southeast
Dem governor under fire after illegal alien allegedly stabs woman to death at bus stop: ‘Heinous’
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EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Homeland Security is calling on Virginia’s Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger to ensure local law enforcement cooperates with federal immigration officials by handing over an illegal immigrant with a lengthy criminal record who allegedly killed a woman earlier this week at a Virginia bus stop.
Police in Fairfax County, Virginia, arrested an illegal immigrant from Sierra Leone earlier this week on charges of second-degree murder after he allegedly fatally stabbed a woman, Stephanie Minter, 41, who was found dead at a local bus stop with several wounds to the upper body.
The alleged suspect, Abdul Jalloh, 32, also has a criminal history of more than 30 arrests, according to DHS, including for rape, malicious wounding, assault, identity theft, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, assault and pick-pocketing.
The request from the Trump administration comes after the newly elected Democratic governor of Virginia signed an executive order to end cooperation between federal immigration officials and state and local law enforcement, a move several Democratic Party governors have taken recently amid President Donald Trump’s move to increase deportation operations around the country.
The DHS request asking Virginia officials to cooperate with ICE also comes after an illegal immigrant allegedly murdered someone just days after being released from jail for a separate crime in December.
Abdul Jalloh, 32, and Gov. Abigail Spanberger (Department of Homeland Security/Getty Images)
“We are calling on Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Virginia’s sanctuary politicians to commit to not releasing this murderer and violent career criminal from their jail without notifying ICE,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis.
“This illegal alien’s murder of an innocent, beautiful American woman came less than 24 hours before Governor Spanberger’s demonization of ICE law enforcement. This heinous criminal is a perfect example of why we need cooperation from sanctuary jurisdictions and the importance of third country removals for the safety of the American people.”
Spanberger’s representatives did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Jalloh entered the United States illegally in 2012, according to DHS, and immigration officials lodged an immigration detainer against him in 2020, whereupon he was granted a final order of removal by a judge who said he could be removed to any country other than Sierra Leone.
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Protesters, using whistles to alert neighborhoods to ICE activity, face off with Minneapolis police officers in Minneapolis Jan. 24, 2026. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)
DHS indicated that ICE cooperation to ensure Jalloh’s deportation is evident after a case Fox News covered in December when a criminal illegal alien from El Salvador, Marvin Morales-Ortez, 23, allegedly killed a man just a day after Fairfax County jail officials let him go.
The immigrant from El Salvador had been in custody on charges of malicious wounding and brandishing a gun, but police released him after the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, led by George Soros-backed prosecutor Steve Descano, dropped the charges.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Fairfax County Sheriff’s office to inquire about why the man had not been handed over to ICE.
The sheriff’s office said, “ICE was aware of Morales-Ortez’s incarceration and elected not to seek a judicial warrant to ensure he remained in custody.
Marvin Morales-Ortez, who is living in the country illegally, was released from Fairfax County custody and then allegedly committed a murder the next day. (Fairfax County Police Department/Getty Images)
“The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office follows all local, state and federal laws when determining whether a person is subject to release from the ADC,” the sheriff’s office told Fox News Digital at the time. “Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is automatically notified any time a person is booked into the ADC.”
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The same sheriff’s office did not get back to Fox News Digital’s media inquiry for this story on DHS urging officials to cooperate with federal officials.
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Southeast
Illegal immigrant arrested after showing up to Florida Border Patrol office for contract IT work
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FIRST ON FOX: An illegal immigrant who reported to a U.S. Border Patrol site in Florida to perform some Information technology contractual work was arrested when authorities were made aware of his citizenship status, officials said.
Angel Camacho, a Venezuelan citizen, reported to a USBP center in Dania Beach, Florida, Jan. 6 to do some IT work when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials began vetting him, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Fox News Digital.
During its investigation, it was revealed Camacho was in violation of U.S. immigration laws, authorities said.
Angel Camacho reported to a Florida U.S. Border Patrol center to perform contractual work when he was arrested, a Department of Homeland Security official said. (Getty Images )
“CBP vets all external visitors before allowing them to enter secure facilities to ensure safety and operational integrity,” DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement.
“During the vetting process, CBP uncovered this individual was a tourist visa overstay in the country for over five years.”
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This photo shows a U.S. Border Patrol patch on a border agent’s uniform in McAllen, Texas, Jan. 15, 2019. (Suzanne CordeiroAFP via Getty Images)
Camacho was arrested and transferred to ICE custody, Bis said.
His criminal history includes theft and resisting a Florida Highway Patrol officer, officials said. Federal authorities have nabbed several illegal immigrants in the process of trying to obtain employment in law enforcement and education.
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One Sierra Leone citizen was recently arrested as he was training to become a Pennsylvania corrections officer.
Another illegal immigrant, Ian Roberts, served as the former superintendent of Iowa’s largest district, Des Moines Public Schools, before he was arrested by ICE.
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A Georgia high school teacher was arrested Wednesday after allegations of inappropriate contact between a teacher and a minor student surfaced at Lee County High School.
Danielle Weaver, 29, of Leesburg, is charged with child molestation and improper sexual contact by an employee, agent or foster parent, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI).
Lee County High School requested the Leesburg Police Department investigate the allegations on Feb. 3, and the GBI was called to assist the following day.
Danielle Weaver, 29, of Leesburg, Ga., is charged with child molestation and improper sexual contact by an employee. (Lee County Sheriff’s Office)
Investigators identified Weaver as the “subject,” and identified the victim as a student under 18 years old at Lee County High School, according to officials.
GBI agents continued the investigation along with the Leesburg Police Department, and arrest warrants were obtained for Weaver on Tuesday.
A Google Maps street view photo of Lee County High School in Leesburg, Ga. (Google Maps)
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Weaver turned herself in to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday, and was later released on bond, according to a report from WALB News.
This investigation is active and ongoing, according to the GBI.
The incident allegedly happened at a high school in Georgia. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
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Once complete, the case file will be given to the Southwestern Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
Leesburg is located in South Georgia, and is about an hour and a half north of Tallahassee, Florida.
Lee County High School’s communications team did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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