u/Lumi-umi-umi

So Reddit took my original down but ima repost with more context, while also leaving some of the more sensitive details out (not sure what made the mods remove it) if you want more clarification just comment and I will try to answer to the best of my ability. This has been confirmed that this is the police, I have the officers full name, number, email (that ends in .org) and his badge number, I called the non emergency number for his precinct to confirm not only he worked there but they were working on such a case.

06/18/2026
They called me and told me they found an animal that’s chip belonged to me and asked me to recite animals I’ve lost or had created, I asked what gender or breed the animal was, he called me back after calling the animal control to find out the info on the chip. He came back telling me the info on the chip was a female cat, around 13.5 years old. The only cat I’ve had that was female and that age was “tuna”. We had tuna cremated in December 2024. So this didn’t make sense to me till he asked for the name of the clinic, I told him the name and and area but I couldn’t remember the address, he said on ____ (the street name) I said yes he said I know which one you are talking about then asked me to collect info and if I would be willing to bring my ashes in to be tested, I said yes and he told me he would be in contact with me later.

06/25/2026
Y’all had told me this had to be a scam (I hadn’t had his email or badge number at the time of the earlier post that got taken down), and I was holding onto that belief, but the officer (same one) called me today and asked for more info and if I could fill out a witness report he emailed me, and the email was an official .org email, the statement was an official statement from his district. He asked if I wanted to press charges so I said yes and asked me to put this in my report. I finished it with all the info asked for, and emailed it back to him. I’m at a loss and want idk advice, legal advice (what should I find to press charges? What would make my case stronger?), if I’m just over reacting? Am I justified in feeling the anger and pain I feel, maybe I just need comfort. I’ve never experienced anything similar and I’m struggling, I will link the original or y’all can go to my profile I’m new to Reddit and don’t know how this works.

Location: Texas

Link to original~ https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/s/J5CkpEPsnk

Hey Reddit, I’ve never posted before, idk how this works. I’m looking for I’m not sure, legal advice? Maybe just comfort that this is as fucked up as I think it is? Okay here is the story so far

06/17/2026
my family member got a message saying they had found a cats remains and the chip led back to us. We immediately get scared that our cat korren got hit by a car or something, we start searching for him immediately. He comes waltzing in the house a few hours later, we confirm it’s him. We then just assume, okay maybe they found our other cat who disappeared like 6 years ago. We kinda forget about it until…

06/18/2026
The next day I am at work and I get a call from a police officer, saying he’s looking for me to ask some questions, I’m confused until he says it’s about a missing pet. I told him that my cat wasn’t missing but I did find it odd they would give me a call if they found my cats remains after he was hit by a car. He said no that’s not how we found the animal. He proceeded to tell me they found a bunch of animal remains and asked me to go though all the animals I’ve lost and or cremated. I’m immediately more confused, why is he asking about my cremated cats when he said he had found a body? I go through the list and he takes note of their names and breeds. I ask him to tell me any more info from the chip and he says he will call me back, I get a call later from him, he says that the chip was for a female cat who was 13.5 years old. The cat who disappeared was a male so I knew they were not talking about him. The only female cat I have ever had was my cat Tuna. I took her to get put down due to her having cancer and seizures, we chose to get her cremated by the company who they are partnered with (I won’t disclose the location, I want more info before I do so). The officer said he would like to test the remains I have of what I thought was my cat. He wants to call me later this week and arrange that. I want to know can I sue them? The company I payed money to handle my baby with care and respect, I payed for the service of private cremation. I clearly didn’t get that, I’m so so hurt all over again, I feel like I lost her again, it hurts so much, I celebrated dia de Los muertos (day of the dead)with her, she’s in my ofrenda (like a cabinet we keep pictures, and items of passed love ones to honor them and remember them) Am I right to be as upset as I am about this, I want to press charges for what they did, because that’s just so so sick, to just dump her body like that, and it wasn’t just her, the officer said there were many more. I’m not sure of the condition of the bodies because I was at work when he called and he didn’t want to upset me further. I just want the people responsible to have consequences. I don’t want them to do this to anyone else ever again. I will update again (if I can figure out how) when he calls me with more info and after we get her ashes tested.

Location: Texas

Edit For clarification, I do keep my cats indoors, they are only allowed out in a stroller, or their carriers. The cat who "came waltzing back inside" is my moms cat, same with the one who disappeared, she has a dog door and the cats get out, I've tried to tell her to not let them out, when I lived there I had to keep my cat in my room so he wouldn't get out, but I've since moved and he's not allowed out. I personally don't like cats being outdoor cats, it puts them in unnecessary danger and is bad for the environment.
I've tried to talk her into getting rid of the dog door, but that isn't what this post is about.

Edit for more info: the original message about the chip being found was a voice message, they then reached out to me, the officer told me who he was (I won’t say a name for privacy) and asked me this was *said my full name* I said yes and he started asking me questions about any missing pets or pets I’ve put down, I gave him the list. He then asked where I had taken them I told him what city but couldn’t remember exact addresses for some. When I mentioned the city for tuna he asked if it was xyz clinic I said yes and told me the location and I confirmed. He asked me to bring in her ashes later this week to the police department if that was something I was willing to do. I of course agreed, just wanted to clarify for all the comments wondering if it’s a scam. I will say tuna “urn” is more of a box with a latch, which is unusual, at least for all the pet ashes I currently have which are cedar boxes where you have to undo a screw to get to the ashes and are stamped with the company’s logo. Tunas is just a normal looking wooden box with a metal latch to open it, inside is a fabric bag that holds the ashes, I haven’t looked inside the fabric bag, and her name is on a gold metal tag thing.