Murdered Dog Breeder Found by Search Party, Police Looking for Missing Puppies

Mar. 15, 2025

Paul Peavey.Photo:Elite European Dobermans

Elite European Dobermans

Investigators believe finding a set of missing Doberman puppies could help solve the murder of a Colorado dog breeder.

Paul Peavey, 57, was reported missing on Aug. 21, two days after he had last been heard from, according to theClear Creek County Sheriff’s Office’s Facebook.

A private search party found his body, just before noon on Saturday, Aug. 24.

The coroner’s office is conducting an autopsy to determine his cause and manner of death, per police, who are investigating the “suspicious” case as a homicide, per another of the Sheriff’sFacebookpost.

Police say that “many puppies are unaccounted for, possibly as many as 10 from the breeder’s Elite European Dobermans facility near Idaho Springs, Co.," and that locating the lost pups – which have become an integral part of their ongoing investigation – “may also help solve his homicide.”

A litter of Paul Peavey’s European Dobermans.Elite European Dobermans

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The sheriff’s office, along with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the 5th Judicial District Attorney’s Office has not yet determined a motive for the suspected killing – the details of which have not been publicly released – and the investigation remains “in its very early stages,” according to law enforcement.

Although no one has been apprehended in connection to the killing, police say the public is not in “imminent danger.”

Peavey bred no more than two litters of European Dobermans each year, per hiscompany’s website. Each puppy was microchipped, according to law enforcement.

Paul Peavey.Elite European Dobermans

In aFacebook postearlier this week, the sheriff’s office appealed to the public for help in the case, urging “anyone who purchased a Doberman puppy in the central Colorado area within the last week” to “check the puppy for a microchip” and contact the sheriff’s office.

Additionally, law enforcement asks anyone who bought a puppy through Peavey’s Elite European Dobermans since June to contact the sheriff’s office – whether “you received the puppy that was purchased or if you did not receive the puppy” – in an effort to determine the exact number of missing dogs.

On his website, Peavey – the proud owner of an American Doberman and “mutt rescues” — described himself as a “dog lover” from the age of 10 who had been “committed to training dogs at a young age.”

In addition to breeding, he walked local rescue dogs and organized visits with his dogs to senior homes and senior rehabilitation centers.

If you have recently purchased a Doberman puppy in the central Colorado area or from Elite European Dobermans, contact the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office at 303-679-2393 or admin@clearcreeksheriff.us. If you have other information regarding the case, call the sheriff’s office or email crime_tips@clearcreeksheriff.us, or submit a tip anonymously athttps://bit.ly/CCSOCrimeTips.

source: people.com