Missing Dog Roscoe Is Nearby, But Remains Elusive

He’s there. And then he’s not.

Roscoe the dog has become something akin to a will o’ the wisp. He’s also becoming a symbol of a community’s compassion.

Since the German shorthair in Menomonee Falls a week ago, community members have rallied around the Langhoff family, which has seen more than its share of tragedy the past few years. A bar owner, city worker, and a man who works outdoors all spotted — but couldn’t catch — the dog.

However, his family thinks they know where he’s hiding. On Sunday evening, they spotted him on pictures snapped by a trail camera they installed with the help of a lost dogs group. Roscoe emerged from a wooded area to eat food.

He hasn’t been seen since, but all of the sightings have clustered around the roughly 40-acre wooded plot near Water Street and Roosevelt Drive.

Family, friends, and strangers have spent countless hours driving around looking for the dog, who was to become a source of income as well as hope for the family. Kirk Langhoff is the former owner of Northwoods Gunsmithing in Hartford. The small gun store couldn’t compete with larger big box stories and Langoff, who is now unemployed, was going to use Roscoe for guided hunts.

“It’s been phenomenal,” Kirk Langhoff said on Tuesday about the community's response. “It’s strange so many people care about a dog. It’s great. We have a community that really cares. I think Menomonee Falls has a lot of people who really care about animals.”

His wife, Tammy Langhoff, suffered the loss of her teenage daughter, Katie Fennig, to a head injury two years ago. There is a scholarship fund in Katie’s name at the local high school. Then, in a local park and another dog had a seizure disorder.

Langhoff cautioned that people should not try to chase Roscoe if they see him and shouldn’t go searching for him in the wooded area. People who specialize in finding lost dogs told the Langhoffs that this could spook the dog and cause him to run out of the area.

“He’s fast. He can go a few miles pretty fast, if running,” Kirk Langhoff said. But sightings help pinpoint where he is, so those are helpful, he said. If people spot Roscoe, they can contact the police or Langhoff’s cell phone at (262) 707-7048.

The sightings have kept the family going since Tammy Langhoff took Roscoe for a walk, and he broke free.

“It gives us renewed hope,” Kirk Langhoff said. “We had the owner of a bar call us, people from Lost Dogs call us, people from the city have seen him, all strangers. The Humane Society got us a cage.”

The hope is to lure Roscoe into the cage using food. It hasn’t worked so far.

They will keep trying until they find him.

“He’s a huge investment for our future,” said Langhoff. “We waited a long time to decide to get something again to care about  as a family.”