Jennifer Fortune, of Brown City, holds pet dogs Bailey and Kalee; the couple's daughter Lilly is in her lap; and husband Chris Fortune holds the puppies. The two tracked down a suspected Detroit scammer, set up a sting and brought their puppies home. (Photo by MIKE MERCIER)

"It was not a nice neighborhood and it kind of made me nervous," said Jennifer Fortune of the suspect's home. "Her front door was riddled with bullet holes. I was sort of scared, but determined. Where were the puppies, and what was she doing with them?"

Problems began after Dorrina Beaudry, of Detroit, accompanied by a man known as Eric, responded to Chris and Jennifer Fortune's home in response to a puppies for sale advertisement the two had placed in the Detroit Free Press. The four 11-week-old Malti-poos -- a cross between their Maltese dog Bailey, and Malti-poo Kalee -- were selling for $400 each.

Beaudry and Eric came to the couple's Deanville Road home Sept. 28, and purchased one male and one female puppy. She wrote a check for $800, but because it was a Sunday, Jennifer couldn't verify it with the bank.

"I gave her the benefit of a doubt because she seemed like a lonely woman who wanted companionship," said Jennifer. "At first I was kind of concerned that she wanted try to breed the two because they are brother and sister. But she said she wanted them as pets and would have them spayed and neutered."

Chris and Jennifer found out Monday the check was written on a closed account. Beaudry had previously phoned her for directions to Brown City, so the couple had her phone number on their caller identification.

"I called her back and she said, 'I didn't get any dogs from you,' and hung up the phone," said Jennifer. "I knew right then I was going to find her. It wasn't the money that drove me. I needed to find my pups."

Chris and Jennifer drove to the address on the check and the people at the rented home in Warren didn't know anything about Beaudry. The couple searched the computer and uncovered a classified advertisement for Sheltie puppies using Beaudry's phone number.

That's when the two formed their undercover canine caper and enlisted the help of friends and family.

Their niece Brandy Fortune, of Roseville, and friend Michelle Thomas, of Clinton Township, made an appointment with Beaudry to see her puppies. They discovered Beaudry always brought the dogs outside her Detroit home to show them. The plan was for Brandy and Michelle to look at the dogs, while Chris, his brother Richard Fortune and their friend Tom Kennedy, of Harrison Township, were to prevent Beaudry from sneaking back into her home until she surrendered the Fortune's canines.

Chris and Jennifer were staking out the house until the sting began, and Fox 2's Bill Gallagher happened to phone them. When they had first discovered the bad check, the couple phoned WJBK Fox 2 Detroit Problem Solvers, but had not yet heard back from the station.

"I was getting kind of nervous. It was a very bad area," Jennifer said. "But the news station heard what we were doing and said they'd be right over. I felt a lot braver then."

The group confronted Beaudry on her porch. With TV cameras rolling, Beaudry phoned Eric and a suspected accomplice named Lisa. The couple got their puppies back. Jennifer believes this is not the first time the canine crooks have struck.

"I know it's a bigger thing, and I'm bound and determined to find Lisa and Eric," said Jennifer. "I'm not done yet. We're going to pet stores with Dorrina's picture and contacting rescue groups. We don't want anyone to go through what we had to."

Lapeer County Sheriff's Sgt. Craig Miller, who took the report for the bad check, had no idea in advance that the two planned the sting.

"It's a great job," he said. "I guess you could say it's amazing."

Miller doesn't link the puppy purchase scam to the bad economy.

"A crook is a crook in any economy," Miller said. "Never accept a check from someone you don't know. We've been running into problems with cashier's checks too. Just accept cash."

Susan Younger may be reached at (810) 664-0811, Ext. 8122 or susan.younger@lapeergroup.com.