Dog's Been Missing For A Year, Family Files Suit Against Boarder

CHICAGO (CBS) – The Caponi family has gone to extreme lengths, even using psychics and flying helicopters, to find their missing dog.

Digger is still missing, after a year. So now, as CBS 2's Suzanne LeMignot reports, the family is taking legal action.

Their beloved German shepherd beagle mix was last seen at Baxter & Beasley, a boarding, grooming and training facility in Palatine.

Todd Caponi remembers when his cellphone rang, while vacationing with his wife and three children, at Disneyland.

"We got the call and said they had lost him," he said.

Caponi said workers at Baxter & Beasley said Digger had "gone crazy" and bit one of the handlers. Somehow the dog then escaped by climbing an eight-foot fence.

"The story changed a number of times, from that point on," Caponi said.

Caponi recently filed a lawsuit against Baxter & Beasley.

Since Digger disappeared, Caponi has put up digital and vinyl billboards, posted signs and created a website and Facebook page to field tips. He even launched a helicopter on the day his dog vanished.

"This disrupted our lives in a big way," Caponi said.

The lawsuit seeks in excess of $50,000 in damages.

Caponi said the lawsuit isn't about recovering the money spent, but rather to "protect other people from this."

Baxter & Beasley had no comment.