A small dachshund named Flick survived after a sheriff’s deputy found him bound and unable to move in a freezing Jefferson County, Missouri, ditch in February 2019. The investigation led to Paul Garcia, who later entered an Alford plea and received a seven-year prison sentence on the felony animal-abuse charge.
The case combined a lifesaving roadside discovery, forensic work and a legal outcome that held the defendant accountable without overstating how the case was resolved.
A deputy found Flick in 18-degree weather
According to contemporaneous reporting, a Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office deputy found the black-and-tan dachshund along Old Highway M near Schneider Road in the Antonia area. Electrical and duct tape had been wrapped around his muzzle and legs.
The temperature was reported at 18°F when Flick was discovered. After he was taken to Ivan Animal Hospital in House Springs, his body temperature was 96°F, below the normal canine temperature cited in the case report. He also appeared to have a head injury.
Hospital workers initially called the dog Jimmy. His owner was soon located, and authorities learned that his real name was Flick. Less than a week after the rescue, Flick was reunited with his owner, Kaitlynn Kofron.
That reunion is an important part of the story. Flick was not simply an unidentified animal who disappeared into the shelter system; he survived, received medical care and returned to the person who had been looking for him.
A fingerprint helped investigators identify Garcia
Investigators recovered a fingerprint from the tape used to bind Flick, according to the probable-cause information reported by the Jefferson County Leader. That evidence helped authorities identify Garcia, then 39, of Barnhart.
Garcia was charged with felony animal abuse and armed criminal action. At the charging stage, the allegations were not proof of guilt—a distinction also emphasized by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri when it discussed the pending state case in May 2020.
The Sheriff’s Office credited patrol deputies, crime-scene technicians, fingerprint examiners and detectives for their work. The progression of the case shows why careful evidence collection can matter even when an animal cannot tell investigators what happened.
The seven-year sentence and what it means
Garcia entered an Alford plea, meaning he did not admit the conduct but acknowledged that prosecutors had sufficient evidence for a court to find him guilty. Jefferson County Circuit Judge Brenda Stacey sentenced him to seven years for animal abuse and three years for armed criminal action. Those two state sentences were ordered to run concurrently.
The state prison terms were also ordered to run concurrently with a separate 10-year federal sentence imposed in May 2020 after Garcia pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. The federal case was separate from Flick’s abuse case.
This distinction matters: describing the outcome only as “a prison sentence” leaves out the unusual plea and the concurrent terms, while suggesting that the animal-abuse conviction alone added seven years beyond the federal sentence would also be misleading.
Flick’s survival remains the emotional center of the case. A deputy noticed him, veterinary workers treated him, investigators followed the evidence and the courts imposed a serious sentence. His story is a reminder that reporting suspected cruelty quickly can give both an animal and an investigation a chance.
Sources
- Jefferson County Leader: Barnhart man sentenced to seven years for animal abuse
- U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Missouri: Separate federal gun sentence
- ABC7: Initial rescue and charging report
