JOYCE — The search continues for the woman believed to have taken a harbor seal pup taken from Salt Creek County Park in violation of federal animal protection laws.
Investigators are looking for a white female, in her 50s or 60s, with brown, straight, shoulder-length hair turning gray.
She’s been described as lightweight, almost thin, weighing about 110-pounds but looking “fit and healthy,” officials said. The woman was also seen with a dog, probably a border collie.
She may have been driving a light brown, or colored import car similar to a Toyota Camry, that was seen in the Salt Creek parking lot July 28, the day the wild seal was allegedly taken from the park.
Witnesses have told investigators the woman picked up the seal and took it off the beach.
“We have a number of witnesses, so we are reasonably certain we will locate her,” National Marine Fisheries Service spokesman Brian Gorman said Thursday. “Hopefully she will call voluntarily and let us know.
“We are concerned with the seal pup’s welfare. Maybe the publicity will cause the person to give us a call.”
Anyone with information on the missing seal pup is asked to call the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration hotline number at 800-853-1964 or the Seattle office of the National Marine Fisheries Service at 206-526-6133.
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