Brian Dillie's two dogs Browning and Chloe, were killed by a neighbor down the road three weeks ago.
Born and raised in a rural community outside of Joy, Dillie has never had issues with his animals.
He was shocked someone would commit such an act to his dogs.
"They were 70 pound lap dogs, not aggressive at all ever," said Dillie.
Chloe, a German Shorthaired Pointer, was found in a woods shot and deceased.
Browning, a boxer, was found in a ditch where he had been hit by vehicle.
The State's Attorney's Office in Mercer County told News 8 that Tyler Frieden, who lives down the road from Dillie, admitted to shooting the first dog and running over the second one. Frieden is now facing a felony of aggravated animal cruelty to animals.
Dillie recalls leaving his house for no more than seven minutes before returning to find his dogs gone.
"Out of the blue on the south side of the highway, we heard a gunshot," said Dillie.
Concerned, he got in his truck and searched the rural area. Having no luck, he retired for the night and started to search again that next morning.
A couple of hours into his search, he found his Boxer, Browning, lying in the ditch deceased.
"He was in the ditch by the guardrail on the south side of the road, he continued, he had obviously been hit by a larger vehicle," Dillie said.
The search continued for three days until he found his German Shorthaired Pointer Chloe.
"She had obviously been shot and looked like she was running away from something," said Dillie.
Losing two four-legged family members was tragic, and explaining it to his eight year old daughter was difficult.
"She asked a couple of questions like why, why would someone do something like that," said Dillie.
Now the healing process is beginning. The Dillies added a new member to the family, a one-and-a-half year old Great Dane named Kasey May.
The wounds won't heal fast, but they will always have the memories of Chloe and Browning.
As for the suspect, Tyler Frieden will have a preliminary hearing on November 26th at the Mercer County Courthouse.