Katharina Buczek
A 29-year-old man named Derek Daigneault has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his cousin after her dog, Titan, helped solve the case.
On April 5, 2023, police in Robinson, Texas, were responding to a brush fire when they found 26-year-old Mandy Rose Reynolds burning and “dead beyond recognition.”
Not far away was a little white dog that was barking “frantically” at officers. The pet refused to be captured or leave the area.
The body, which was later identified as Mandy, was removed. Then, the following morning, the dog was spotted by a citizen still sitting in the very same spot where Mandy’s remains had been burning the night before.
Robinson Animal Control was contacted, and authorities discovered the dog, named Titan, was actually microchipped. Through the chip, they ascertained that Titan’s owner was Mandy.
This led investigators to Mandy’s home in San Marcos, Texas, and upon entering, they realized all of her belongings were gone. Additionally, her car, a black Honda Accord, was missing.
Police used a license plate database to run her vehicle information and learned it was in Wichita, Kansas. So, the Wichita Police Department was informed and instructed to keep an eye out for Mandy’s car.
Three days after Mandy’s burning body was found, on April 9, 2023, police saw her car in Wichita and attempted to pull over the driver. This sparked a high-speed chase that lasted almost 30 minutes and surged to speeds over 100 miles per hour.
The driver of Mandy’s vehicle ended up crashing into another car and fleeing on foot, running into a nearby grocery store and hiding on a shelf. Investigators located the driver and identified him as Derek Daigneault, Mandy’s cousin.
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