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Simon Cowell Offers $10,000 Reward after Thieves Steal 2-Year-Old Boy's Puppy

By James Russo January 15, 2018 at 2:56pm

“Dear Father Christmas,” Edward Latter wrote. “I just want one present for Christmas this year, my dog Morse back. I’ve been a very good boy all year. Thank you, Edward aged two and three-quarters.”

When little Edward’s family couldn’t find their dog anywhere, all he could do was ask Santa.

Unfortunately, old Kris Kringle couldn’t help — but he got some assistance from another unlikely source.

Richard Latter, Edward’s father, did everything in his power to get the nine-month-old border terrier puppy back from the dog-nappers. He even created a Facebook group dedicated to finding Morse.

The family posted “missing” posters everywhere, but their efforts didn’t seem to make any progress.

Their posts gained some traction online, though, where they were put in front of someone who could actually make a difference.

While Simon Cowell plays the heel when he’s on television, he’s a notorious softie at heart. When he heard about Edward’s missing dog, he decided to make it his mission to find Morse and reunite him with his family.

“It’s heartbreaking to see a little boy’s Christmas ruined,” a source close to Cowell told the Daily Mail.

“Dogs are so important to so many of us. We just hope it helps lead to the safe return of Morse.”

Cowell put a $10,000 reward on Morse, hoping this would be enough to bring him home.

“We’ve had people e-mailing us photos and snippets of information,” Richard said.

“It’s really nice that people are out there actively helping us.” Still, Christmas came and passed with no sign of Morse.

Finally, after weeks of searching, the Latter family received news that brightened their spirits. A local man had spotted a muddy dog walking the streets, and thought it might be the missing dog he’d seen in the photos.

He contacted the Latter family about the find, but they were careful because of the hefty reward. “Me and Amanda were still quite skeptical, but Edward saw him and recognized him straight away,” Richard said.

“We instantly broke down in tears,” Richard continued. “I was delirious for a few seconds, it was absolutely wonderful, we were just hugging each other, hugging Edward and hugging the dog.”

Thanks to Cowell’s generous reward, little Edward was able to reunite with his lost puppy. There’s no word on whether or not the family claimed the monetary reward.

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