Sgt. Tibbs, a beloved 19-year-old cat, goes missing on the streets of Manchester, New Hampshire. His owner fears the worst. But when she finds out her cat was never missing at all, the truth turns out to be worse than she feared. From the Document team at New Hampshire Public Radio, a four-part series hosted by Todd Bookman about what we owe our pets — and what we owe our neighbors.
The Final Days of Sgt. Tibbs is available wherever you get your podcasts. Parts 1 and 2 will broadcast on NHPR on Sat., March 15 at 12 p.m., with Parts 3 and 4 airing Sat., March 22 at 12 p.m.
Part 1: Chicken Livers
Sgt. Tibbs, a fluffy, 19-year-old Maine Coon with tiger stripes, soft eyes, and a chipped tooth, is missing on the streets of Manchester, New Hampshire. His owner, Rose, fears the worst. But when she finds out her cat was never missing at all — the truth turns out to be worse than she feared.
Part 2: #JusticeForTibbs
Rose mounts a pressure campaign against Debbie, the woman who says she and her daughter Sabrina rescued Sgt. Tibbs, but now refuses to give him back. First, Rose takes to social media. Then, she leads a protest outside Debbie’s business where this cat struggle turns into something much more troubling.
Part 3: ‘Close and Tight’
Todd begins to investigate the final days of Sgt. Tibbs as the social media storm Rose kicked up descends from the internet clouds into a real life courtroom. And parts of Debbie and Sabrina’s story about Sgt. Tibbs’ final days don’t seem to add up.
Part 4: Tibbs Comes Back
Months after she let him outside for the last time, Rose is reunited with Sgt. Tibbs. And Todd grapples with what this tale reveals about what we owe our pets — and our neighbors.
The Final Days of Sgt. Tibbs Editorial Team
Host/Lead Reporter: Todd Bookman
Producers: Lauren Chooljian, Jason Moon
Lead Editors: Daniel Barrick and Katie Colaneri
Editing Help: Felix Poon, Zoey Knox, Rebecca Lavoie
Art and Web Design: Sara Plourde
Episode Transcripts
Episode 1
Lauren Chooljian, Narrating: Just a heads up before listening, there’s explicit language throughout the series that might not be suitable for all ears. Also, if you’re interested, we have photos, links, and more at NHPR.org/Tibbs.
People Chanting: [FADES UP] …What’s that? This store owner stole her cat! Hey! What’s that?! This store owner stole her cat! Hey! What’s that?! This… [FADES UNDER]
Todd Bookman, Narrating: I want to start by playing you a little sound. It’s from a protest.
People Chanting: [FADES BACK UP] Hey! What’s that?! This… [FADES UNDER]
Bookman, Narrating: I’ll do my best to describe what’s happening, but it’s not easy. It's a strange scene. I wasn’t there, but I’ve spoken to people who were – and there's plenty of videos.
The protest takes place in Manchester, New Hampshire. Bright, sunny June day, last summer.
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman, Narrating: There are five people standing on a sidewalk, evenly spaced in front of a business.
Maybe you think there’s a lot to protest these days. Maybe you don’t. But this is not a protest you’ve seen on the news before. This protest is about someone’s pet.
Male Protester: If the internet didn’t teach you anything, you don’t fuck with peoples’ cats!
[MUSIC UP, LOW CHANTING CONTINUES]
Bookman, Narrating: It gets weirder. A woman drives up, parks her car, gets out. Apparently, she’s the target of the protest. But rather than say anything to the protesters, she just stands near them, looking at them, twirling her keys.
Six people on a sidewalk. Five protesting one. It’s 3 p.m. on a Sunday. Traffic streams by.
Protesters: [FADES UP] …stole her cat! Hey! What’s that?! [PASSING TRUCK HONKS]
Protester, Yelling: Fuck yeah!!!
Protesters: …This store owner stole her cat! [CHANTING FADES OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: If an alien came down to earth and this is what they saw, they’d be right to wonder… is this typical human behavior?
[MUSIC UP]
Bookman, Narrating: The cat at the center of all this is 19 years old – practically ancient. A Maine Coon, with tiger striping and white whiskers, soft eyes.
[MUSIC OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: His name?
Rose Garcia: Sgt. Tibbs, yeah, from “101 Dalmatians.”
Bookman, Narrating: And this is Rose Garcia. Rose is Tibbs’ person – not originally, though. The cat actually belonged to Rose’s ex.
Garcia: I don't talk to the guy anymore. He's, like, such a loser, but…
Bookman, Narrating: When Rose and the loser split, she took two of his cats – Toby and Tibbs. And Toby’s cool – he’s got little brother energy. But Sgt. Tibbs, man... Rose and Tibbs are tight.
She showed me some videos of him hitching rides on her shoulders, snuggling up. Tibbs is a fluff ball, but also… kind of a bad boy.
Garcia: He has a little snaggletooth. He's missing one of his little teethies because he, uh, broke his tooth on, uh, on a rat.
Bookman: …What?
[MUSIC IN]
Garcia: Yeah, I had to bring him to the freaking vet the next day [LAUGHS] because they were like, “Okay, we need to just to make sure that he didn't ingest anything” because he, uh, brought home a freaking big ass mouse…
Bookman: …that he… killed?
Garcia: Yeah, he killed it. I was like, “Thank you! Ugh!”
Bookman, Narrating: Their own love language.
Rose is in her mid-30s. Works from home, keeps an eye on the pets. Tibbs is an indoor/outdoor boy. He likes to circle his little corner of Manchester, New Hampshire, where Rose now lives with a new cat guy, Cody. Cody drives a tow truck – not a loser.
And there have been times when Tibbs has disappeared for a night or two. Rose would let him out and he wouldn’t come home right away. She leaves food out on the porch for him. She’ll move his litter box outside. He always knows the way home.
Garcia: [OUTSIDE SOUNDS FADE UP] Tibbs comes back. No matter what, he comes back. [OUTSIDE SOUNDS FADE UNDER]
[MUSIC OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: But in early June 2024, Tibbs leaves. And this time, he does not come back.
Garcia: I look around the neighborhood, and so I look in all his spots [SNIFFS] and he's not there. [VOICE BREAKS] I go down by the park and he's not there. And I go down the block and I look around there and he's not there. And that's when I come to terms that, like, you know, if he left, he did not want me to find him. Like, like, he's gone gone, like… Yeah, that’s when I kinda realized that he’s probably not going to come back. [OUTSIDE SOUNDS FADE OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: Rose spends days searching for Tibbs and then, starts to come to terms with it. Remember, he’s really old – 19.
Just a week before Tibbs went missing, Rose had to rush him to the vet. He was having trouble breathing. She says the vet told her that Tibbs was not long for this world. He has arthritis, asthma. He’s rapidly losing weight. He can’t really groom himself, so Rose has been shaving mats out of his fur – the kind of elder care we all deserve.
So, when Tibbs goes missing, Rose starts to think he went off to die on his own, the way some animals do. They’ll hide at the end, even from the people they love.
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman, Narrating: But what Rose didn’t know is that Tibbs was not dead, wasn't even lost. Something that would turn out to be so much worse for Rose had happened – Tibbs had been found.
[MUSIC UP]
Bookman, Narrating: My name is Todd Bookman. I'm a reporter for New Hampshire Public Radio. Also a cat guy.
And I've been investigating the final days of Sgt. Tibbs, which, I have to say, did not initially make sense to my editor. Generally, I’m covering news, like news news in New Hampshire. The governor, the legislature, court cases – that sort of thing.
But Tibbs… Tibbs was impossible to let go – this story about a cat lost and a cat found. A story about what we owe our pets and what we owe our neighbors. A story about what happens when a dispute between two people IRL becomes fodder for the internet. And maybe what all this says, or doesn’t say, about the way we relate to each other these days.
Tibbs is not news news. But for a few chaotic days last summer in Manchester, New Hampshire, Tibbs was the biggest story around. And for whatever reason, I just wanted to figure out what happened.
[MUSIC UP AND OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: The west side of Manchester is largely residential, across a river from the city’s downtown. A lot of multifamily units in a dense street grid. Vinyl siding. Working class.
And I found myself in an apartment here with two women, a mother-daughter pair.
Bookman: We can stand here, it's fine with me. Is everybody comfortable with that?
Debbie-Ann Valente: We can all sit! The floors are clean. Shall we sit? I prefer to sit.
Bookman: You want to sit on the floor? Sure. [FADES UNDER]
Bookman, Narrating: Debbie-Ann Valente invites me to sit down in an echoey apartment. Debbie is the landlord here. The unit’s being renovated. There’s no furniture, so we pop an uncomfortable squat.
Valente: [FADES UP] No, no, no, no, no! I don’t want, I don’t want my feet, um, where you are. It’s rude to have my feet in your face! [LAUGHS] But I can’t bear my legs… [FADES UNDER]
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman, Narrating: Debbie’s daughter Sabrina is here, too because Sabrina is the one who actually first found Tibbs. But Debbie does most of the talking.
Valente: Here, um… If you go down the stairs we came in on? There's a back parking area. He was there.
Bookman, Narrating: Sabrina and her friend were changing a car battery, when this scraggly cat with some shaved patches walks up behind them. Sabrina sends pictures of the cat to her mom, Debbie.
Bookman: And what did he look like?
Valente: Aww, I'll show you pictures. A very– He was bleeding a little bit. It looked like he'd been run over by a car, but he wasn't crushed, okay? If you touched that – if you touched his little body, he hurt like crazy.
[MUSIC OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: Poor Tibbs. He seems to be in bad shape. Sabrina, Debbie’s daughter, tries to give him some food, and then rushes him to an emergency vet.
Sabrina Rahme: The cat– The records did say that the cat didn't have any microchip…
Valente, Off Mic: Oh yes.
Rahme: …It wasn't spayed. There was no collar or anything on the cat when it was found…
Valente, Off Mic: There you go.
Rahme: …so, there was no way of us tracing where it could have belonged.
Valente: The vet wants to do a whole bunch of tests. I want to know if the cat doesn't look like it's going to make it. It honestly looked like it had cancer. I honestly thought it had cancer. Okay. Well, if it's got cancer, you can't let an animal carry on in pain, okay? And you can't let an animal stay in this condition. So, I asked – all on speaker – “Is he going to live? Does he have cancer? Am I prolonging agony?” And the vet said, “He doesn't look like he's in pain. We don't know what's all wrong with him, but we reach–” and they did all the tests.
Bookman, Narrating: Tibbs is anemic. The vet gives him fluids and an anti-nausea drug. Sabrina takes Tibbs home, not really sure what to do.
Debbie and Sabrina are animal people, so they try to nurse him back to health, try to get him to eat something. But he noses away everything they offer, wet and dry food.
Valente: What he did eat… chicken livers. Chicken livers… Initially, it was chicken livers and rice, but sometimes he just wanted the livers. He didn’t want the rice.
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman, Narrating: A few days go by and Tibbs is eating a bit. He’s lounging in sunny spots on the floor, becoming a little social with them.
Bookman: How would you describe his personality?
Valente: Very gentle, very s– loved getting petted. You had to be careful when you petted him though, ‘cause he was, he was all bone. So, you couldn't just pat him normally. You had to, like, take two fingers and, and, you know, rub him. You couldn't pet him normally.
Bookman, Narrating: When Debbie and Sabrina first found Tibbs on June 7th, they say they called the Manchester Animal Shelter, but the shelter wasn’t taking in any cats. They were full.
Sabrina posted a “found cat” listing on Petco’s Love Lost website. It’s like a “missed connection” page for lost animals – photos and all. I’ve seen the posting. Tibbs looks like hell, scrawny and half-shaved. The posting doesn’t get any bites. Debbie and Sabrina also put up a sign in a business they own.
Valente: I'm asking people – everybody I see, talk to in the neighborhood ‘cause we work there. You know, telling people we found this cat. And one lady says, [GASPS] “I know that–” She saw the picture. She goes, “I know that cat!”
Bookman, Narrating: “That cat,” the lady says to Debbie, “I think he lives in the house next door.” Like, right next door.
[MUSIC UP AND OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: Friday afternoon, June 28th. Debbie leaves work, walks the maybe 30 feet behind her building to the house next door. Rose’s house. Debbie knocks on the door. And the knock on the door that Friday catches Rose off guard.
She’s still grieving what she thought was the death of Tibbs, who had disappeared from her life. It had been three weeks since she’d last seen him. And now, suddenly, someone’s at the door telling her he’s still alive.
Garcia: [OUTSIDE SOUNDS FADE UP] Around 2 to 3 p.m., she comes knock on my door Friday, tells me that she has, she's had my cat for the last three weeks, and, uh, she's paid $6,000 in medical bills, and they don't know what's wrong with him.
Bookman: Did you know who she was?
Garcia: I did, yeah, and you know, I knew because she's the landlord from this place. [OUTSIDE SOUNDS FADE OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: Rose points to the building Debbie owns. She says she’s seen her across the yard. But they don’t formally meet til that Friday, on Rose’s porch.
Rose remembers that she thanked Debbie, thanked her for taking care of Tibbs and for taking him to the vet. Debbie’s memory of this conversation though… quite different.
Valente: She came out. She said it was her cat. So, I said, “Well, what's wrong with your cat? Because I'm doing all these tests on your cat and it would save your cat a lot of stress not to do them and a lot of issues if we can figure out and you know what's wrong with your cat and we can get it back to its health.” She said she had let the cat out to go and die on its own terms.
Bookman, Narrating: The miscommunication of all miscommunications here.
Rose’s fear was that Tibbs had gone to die on his own terms. But what Debbie hears is that Rose had abandoned a 19-year-old cat on a busy city street. And then, according to Rose…
Garcia: [OUTSIDE SOUNDS FADE UP] She asked me if I wanted my cat back. She was like, “Yeah, but if you want him back, you know, obviously I'll give him back because it's your cat. You know, it's your cat.” And I was like, “Yeah, I do want him back. You know, he's got meds in here. He's got brothers in here. Uh, thank you so much.” And she's like, “Okay, well, I do have antibiotics that I'm gonna pick up for him later, so I'll drop him off right after.” And I was like, “Okay.” [OUTSIDE SOUNDS FADE OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: Okay. Rose is left with the impression that Debbie was going to come back, like that afternoon, with the cat.
Rose and Debbie trade some texts. Debbie actually sends photos of Tibbs. Rose writes back, “I can’t really express to you how much you helping him means to me.”
But Friday afternoon stretches into Friday evening. Debbie’s headlights don’t swing back into the driveway and Rose starts to get anxious. What’s taking so long? Where’s Debbie? Where’s Tibbs?
A few more hours go by. Rose texts again, asking if Debbie had an estimate of what time she’s coming. Debbie asks if she can call Rose later, but she doesn’t call.
Finally, 9:56 p.m., Rose calls Debbie and Debbie picks up.
Garcia: And then she said, um, “Yeah, you know, you're not gonna – you shouldn't be waiting out there. You're not gonna get this cat back.You know, from when we talked, it sounded like you can't really afford this cat. And he was starving! And he–” And I was like, “What the fuck are you talking–?” I was like, “What are you talking–? You said you were coming to my cat– my house with my cat. Here I am thinking you're doing something nice…” And she's like, “I don't have to do anything for you!” And then, that’s when I hung up instantly because I was seeing red, and I couldn’t even breathe. Like, I was, like, choking, like… And that’s when I started panicking. Like, my whole world turned upside down.
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman, Narrating: Sgt. Tibbs is still alive. Not dead, not lost, but alive, and with a neighbor. A neighbor who seems helpful at first, but now what? She won’t give Tibbs back?
Rose is losing it. What can she do?
She decides to take to social media. She writes, “This lady is stealing my cat. I’m going insane.”
Rose clicks the post button. A click that would have serious consequences, almost immediately because over the next few days, things would spiral out of control.
Online, comments start flooding in. “Hashtag-Justice-For-Tibbs” is born. The internet has decided to weigh in. Was Sgt. Tibbs rescued or stolen?
That’s next time on part two of “The Final Days of Sgt. Tibbs.”
[MUSIC UP]
“The Final Days of Sgt. Tibbs” is a production of the Document team at New Hampshire Public Radio.
[MUSIC OUT]
Episode 2
Lauren Chooljian, Narrating: Just a heads up before listening, there’s explicit language throughout the series that might not be suitable for all ears. Also, if you’re interested, we have photos, links, and more at NHPR.org/Tibbs.
[SOUND OF ROAD NOISE, CAR DOOR SLAMS, CAR KEY BEEPS]
[ROAD NOISE FADES UNDER]
Todd Bookman, Narrating: The shop that Debbie Valente owns is a… spiritual shop. It’s called Myths and Maidens. It's in a brick building on the west side of Manchester. And I’m calling Myths and Maidens a “spiritual shop” because I’m not sure what else to call it.
Debbie-Ann Valente: Okay, so this is, this is us. Okay? [LAUGHS] We've been around since 2000 and… uh, I think 2001?
Bookman, Narrating: When you walk in, crystals and tumbled gemstones, they’re on the back wall. In a room to the left, there’s a rack full of capes and cloaks. Smudges, incense, tarot cards.
Valente: My husband put up all the shelving and everything, and I painted the walls black. And then– ‘Cause I wanted the feel of the night sky, ‘cause it's black paint, but there's glitter in it, as like stars.
Bookman, Narrating: There’s also a long wall of carved pieces – items perfect for an altar, a curio cabinet. Debbie and her husband used to travel through Africa and Europe to source the inventory. He was the gemstone expert. She was mostly into… fairies.
Bookman: What do you mean by fairies? Can you show me?
Valente: Yeah, they're in this room. This is the fairy room, okay? [FADES UNDER]
Bookman, Narrating: The fairy room. It’s in the front corner, closest to the street.
Valente: [FADES UP] This is an example. I’ve got biker fairies. They're on Harley-Davidsons. So, this is made by one lady, okay? And then, the bike is made by the kids, okay? And so, I put two products together and making biker fairies. All handmade – everything, okay?
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman: So, these are, these are sculptures of…
Valente: …fairies and, with, with on Harley-Davidsons made of metal, you know, of, of things. Soaps! Again, the lady, uh, an African lady made them in South Africa for me. Um… Where's my moons? [WHISPERS] I've got gorgeous moons. Are they sold out? [FADES UNDER]
Bookman, Narrating: Debbie herself was born in South Africa. But she told me her parents are Italian, and she spent her childhood in Vancouver, then California, then Europe. At some point, she followed a sister to New Hampshire.
Nowadays, she has a couple of things going on. She owns rental properties, and for a while led the New Hampshire Property Owners Association, an advocacy group for landlords. She also runs a lead paint inspection company. And then, there’s this shop, Myths and Maidens, which seems to be her favorite project.
Bookman: Do you cast spells?
Valente: Absolutely. So do you. [PAUSES, THEN LAUGHS]
Bookman: Didn't know I did.
Valente: [LAUGHING] I know! That's why I said it! Everybody does. When you– Everything originates from history. And when you wish somebody “happy birthday,” when you, um, wish somebody, “have a very nice New Year,” okay? You're casting a spell. Just you don't call it that ‘cause it's got this stigma attached to it, okay? But no, your wishing people well is casting a spell. So, yes, everybody does it. It's beautiful. Um, what else? What else do you want to know about? Everything’s hand– 99% of the stuff is hand-crafted… [FADES OUT]
[MUSIC UP]
Bookman, Narrating: Along with wanting to see the shop, I came to Myths and Maidens to get Debbie and Sabrina’s side of this story. Did she straight up steal this cat from Rose, or was the situation more complicated?
[MUSIC OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: Debbie leads me up a flight of stairs to that empty apartment adjoining the shop. Sabrina, her daughter, is here, too. She’s in her early 20s.
When we all sit on the floor, Debbie initially leans against Sabrina, like, for physical support.
I notice how close they are, a mother-daughter team.
Debbie and Sabrina together took care of Tibbs for three weeks – three weeks of chicken livers, spending thousands on vet bills. And then, they heard he likely belonged to the house next door, which led to the Friday conversation on Rose’s porch.
Rose thinks that Debbie is going to give Sgt. Tibbs back, but Debbie, she remembers the conversation very differently.
Bookman: Could we just spend a few more minutes talking about the interaction you had with Rose on the porch?
Valente, Off Mic: Yes.
Bookman: So, you're saying she said to you she didn't want her cat back?
Valente: Yes, she had let him out to go and die on his own terms, okay? So, I-I-I'm sorry, that was, that was offensive, because– I said to her, I said, “How can you let an animal out in that condition?” Because if you let an animal out– Surely you, you expect somebody that's got any ounce of feelings in them to take that cat and have it addressed. You don't just leave an animal like that on the street, okay? So, she – as far as I'm concerned – she was responsible for that cat, and she was responsible for the fact that I took that cat and had it seen to. So, I said to her what her actions were were very irresponsible, okay? So, she was offended, and I'm sorry if you're offended. The fact of the matter is the fact!
Bookman, Narrating: The porch conversation happens on Friday around 2 p.m. That night, Debbie and Rose talk again on the phone. And this time, there's no miscommunication.
Valente: And I said to her, “Until that condition and that animal is okay to go back to you, you're not gonna see that animal, okay?”
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman, Narrating: So, what's going on here – a kidnap or a rescue?
Debbie says Rose let Tibbs out to die on his own terms. Rose says no, Tibbs went missing and she was worried he went off to die.
Debbie says Rose shouldn't have left an animal in Tibbs' condition on the street. But Rose says he wasn't as bad as Debbie is claiming, that Tibbs asked to go outside, the way he usually did.
It's a classic she said, she said, except, we do have some other evidence to consider.
For example, before Rose ever spoke to Debbie, she posted on Facebook about Tibbs' disappearance. She wrote, quote, "I feel like he left the house to pass on his own," not that she'd let him out to die.
The timeline of how long Tibbs was outside before Sabrina found him isn’t exactly clear, but here’s what I’ve been able to piece together.
June 6th is Rose’s birthday, and she says he was with her that day. You’d probably remember if your favorite cat was missing on your own birthday. So, it's likely that she put him out the evening of June 6th or the morning of June 7th for the final time.
Sabrina found him on June 7th. That’s documented in the vet records.
[MUSIC UP AND OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: Two neighbors, locked in a fight over a cat.
Tibbs, for the moment, at Debbie’s home on the other side of the city, where she lives with Sabrina. Rose, inside her own house, with her boyfriend, absolutely stunned at what’s gone down. Nobody completely understanding that this is just the start of it.
Late that Friday, after the porch conversation, Rose and Debbie get on the phone, and Debbie cuts to the chase – Rose isn’t getting her cat back. She wants Animal Control to get involved.
Valente: And then, if she's found to have a safe environment for that cat – I don't want another cat, okay? So, I'm good releasing that cat, right? But I am not releasing a cat to somebody who's abused an animal, right? And I told her that.
Bookman, Narrating: But Debbie never gets the chance to call because when Rose hears that Debbie is holding on to Tibbs, Rose calls the police herself.
Valente: When she found out that I was going to wait until the Animal Control, she then said she ph– I don't know when she phoned the police, but she phoned the police and she said I stole her cat.
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman, Narrating: On Saturday, the police go and speak with Debbie about a cat theft. And Debbie turns the tables, says she wants the police to look into Rose. Was she possibly neglecting or abusing Tibbs? Dueling police complaints, essentially, with Tibbs in the middle.
The police decide, at this point, to actually do… not much. The city’s Animal Control unit wasn’t working that weekend. They’d be back on Monday, and then they would have to take charge, figure out what was going on.
So, there’s Rose, being told by the police that she’s not getting her cat back, at least not right away, and that she’s under investigation for neglecting Tibbs. And she’s understandably pissed – frustrated.
So, Rose starts sharing, maybe oversharing, every twist and turn on Facebook. She calls Debbie a, quote, “Cat Hag.” She details information she says the cops are giving her.
She also uses Google Maps and draws a picture of the scene. She notes where her apartment is, where Myths and Maidens is, and where Tibbs liked to roam, and then she posts that map on Facebook.
And Rose knows what she’s doing. Her goal here, of all this, is a pressure campaign, build a Tibbs movement. This is kind of Rose’s style. Here’s a clip from one of her Instagram stories.
[MUSIC OUT]
Rose Garcia, On Instagram Video: Obviously, anybody who knows me, especially like OG Rose, like 20s Rose, knows that I’m loud, and I had my own organization for pro- Like, for, uh, political stuff. I would protest a lot. I love freedom of speech. It’s what I love about the U.S.
Bookman, Narrating: If Debbie won’t give the cat back, and the police aren’t yet ordering her to, Rose wants to see if maybe public outrage might help. And in a way, it works because these posts blow up.
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman, Narrating: Tons and tons of replies and re-posts. People from across the internet start chirping.
Some of Rose’s supporters make their own videos about the situation. Here's some of a TikTok video from a friend named Kelsey, who also happens to work at a vet’s office.
Kelsey on TikTok: Okay, so! Quick rundown. My friend Rose had a cat named Sgt. Tibbs. Medical history for Sgt. Tibbs, because this is relevant to the story. Sgt. Tibbs is… [FADES OUT]
[MUSIC UP]
Bookman, Narrating: That Saturday, inevitable internet behavior goes down. Rather than just liking or thumbs-upping Rose’s posts, people start to go after Debbie and Sabrina.
The Yelp page for Myths and Maidens gets hit with negative comments. Randos saying things like, “The owner is a cat thief. One star.” Same for their Facebook page – just a torrent of nasty messages and fake reviews.
And Debbie’s phone number is on the internet, easily searched, and so the texts and calls start coming. She and Sabrina, blindsided by what’s happening.
[MUSIC OUT]
Bookman: Would you read them out loud for me?
Sabrina Rahme: Of course. “Give Tibbs back to his rightful owner.” Pardon my language. Uh… Pardon my language for all this. Uh, “Give Tibbs back to his rightful owner, you piece of shit. I'll show up to your shop and break shit. I don't care, I will catch a charge. Give the fucking cat back! Fucking crazy hag.”
Bookman: So, those are texts that you received?
Rahme: Mmhmm.
Valente: And this is the first bench.
Rahme: Uh, and there’s other ones as well. Pardon my language again. “Dumb c***. Fucking die! Give the fucking cat back, you dumb bitch, or I'll fucking find you and beat your fucking face in.” This is–
Valente: This is for rescuing a cat!
Bookman, Narrating: Who rescued who?
Debbie and Sabrina see themselves as heroes, selflessly taking in this sick cat, but by Saturday afternoon, they’re just getting bombarded with hate.
So, they take to social media to try to set the record straight. They post on the Myths and Maidens Facebook page a message with the heading “Spread Love.”
They say they’re being unfairly targeted. Quote, “To those of you who have condemned us without research, all we can say is that is why the Salem Witch Trials were so effective.”
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman, Narrating: They also post a photo of how skinny Tibbs is by this point, and claim that Rose was starving him. They make clear they are not giving this cat back, at least not yet.
[MUSIC UP AND OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: A day goes by. Rose has tried the police. She's tried the internet. Now, she takes it a step further.
Protesters, Chanting: Hey! What’s that?! This store owner stole her cat! Hey! What’s that?!… [FADES UNDER]
Bookman, Narrating: 3 p.m. Sunday, a protest outside of Myths and Maidens. The protest – the one I tried to explain to you at the beginning.
Garcia, Chanting: [FADES UP] When do we want him?!
Protesters, Chanting: NOW!
Garcia, Sing-Songy Chanting: If we don’t get him…!
Protesters Chanting, One Male Voice Screaming: SHUT THIS DOWN!!
[PAUSE, THEN CHANTING CONTINUES UNDER NARRATION]
Bookman, Narrating: They’re chanting things like, “What do we want?! Tibbs! When do we want him?! Now!” “Hey, hey! Ho ho! These kitty thieves have got to go!”
Male Protester: [FADES UP] If the internet didn’t teach you anything, you don’t fuck with peoples’ cats! [FADES UNDER]
Bookman, Narrating: There were just five people at first, but a few more show up. They stand outside the shop. They have handmade signs that read things like, “Hashtag-Free Tibbs.”
Rose leads the charge, letting everyone who walks by know what’s going down.
Garcia: She came to my house, told me she had her, my cat! Won’t give it back.
Protester, Off Mic: She won’t give it back.
Garcia: Now, she won’t give it back. [FADES UNDER]
Bookman, Narrating: Debbie shows up, calls the police. The police arrive and say Rose isn’t doing anything illegal, and they leave.
But Debbie doesn’t. She kinda hangs around, twirling a big ring of keys. In a generous light, Debbie is protecting her shop, keeping an eye on things. In an unflattering light, she’s trying to provoke the crowd, maybe get them to cross a line.
At one point, there's an interaction between Debbie and Rose's dog. Harley, the dog is on a leash held by Rose's boyfriend. And Debbie reaches out, as if to pet Harley – in the middle of a protest about Debbie allegedly taking Sgt. Tibbs.
Nobody’s happy.
Male Voice: [FADES UP] You are not helping the situation! Yeah! [FADES OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: And then, there’s another, much more subtle interaction that Rose alleges happens, right in the middle of the protest – something that would turn this cat struggle into something more. Something Debbie allegedly whispers into Rose’s ear.
Garcia: [OUTSIDE SOUNDS FADE UP] Fifteen minutes later, stopped me mid-chant, and was like, “Hey, hey! Just so you know, uh, you're not getting him back because you're Black and I don't support you.” And then, I'm like, “Say–” Like… In all of me is, like, I think she just… I think she just said that so I could react and maybe hit her. I don't know, do something. But I'm like, “Say it again, say it again, say it again!” Of c– and she's just walking away snickering. Uh, and there’s recording of– I don't know if there's, uh, but there's witnesses. She literally said it right in front of Cody, too. I'm like, you are… insane! [OUTSIDE SOUNDS FADE DOWN]
Bookman, Narrating: In the video, you can’t hear anything Debbie says to Rose. But you can see and hear Rose’s reaction. “Say it again!” she says to Debbie. “Say it again, tough stuff!”
Garcia, On Video: [FADES UP, WIND BLOWING] “Say it again! Say it again, tough stuff!”
Bookman, Narrating: I’ve now spoken with three people, besides Rose and Debbie, who were there – all Rose’s friends, including her boyfriend. And they all claim that they heard part of what Debbie said, but nobody heard the whole sentence, except for Rose.
Debbie denies she said it.
Bookman: Just to be clear, you didn't say anything?
Valente: Absolutely not. I mean, 90% of the workforce I work with – with, okay? Not– they don't work for me. Look, I got guys that are Spanish, African – I don't know, all eth– all, all ethnicities. I mean…
Rahme: Indeed.
Valente: I mean…
Rahme: I don't really, I don't– Again, I don't really know why race has come into this, this situation.
Valente: Uh, uh, it's, it’s nonsense!
Bookman, Narrating: Sunday night, after the protest. Rose posts on Instagram – seven minute video.
Garcia, On Instagram Video: [FADES UP] She looked so defeated and I loved it. It was the best feeling ever, because I was doing it for my cat, ya know? Now, we’re gettin’ a bunch of support from people up and down the street. People are talkin’ to us. We’re spreading the story, which is what I love. Um… [FADES OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: And part of the story, now, is what Rose alleges she heard Debbie say about her being Black.
Garcia On Instagram Video: Now, I’m worried. She’s willing to say that and, like, my cat is in her care, like… She’s crazy and sh– [VOICE BREAKS] What if, like, what if she kills my cat because she’s racist? Like, would she…? I don’t know, like… fuck! What is happening? Yo, what is happening? Like, uh, this is so crazy. Literally, so crazy. Smash that subscribe button because shit’s going wild. Like, I can’t.
Bookman, Narrating: Buttons are smashed. Posts on the Myths and Maidens Facebook page pour in. People are calling the shop, leaving threatening messages, texting Debbie.
Rahme: The amount of verbal violence that, uh, Rose has incited on just our business page, rather than bringing it to us personally. Instead of keeping it between us, it's become, like, something amongst the social media. And we get posts that talk about – and this is just one of the comments that we've received – “This is why I don't trust these witch shops owned by colonizer types. Uh, they harm our cultures and beliefs.” Uh, “This is not about, uh, cat theft anymore. It's the act of white supremacist narcissism and their colonist mindset. They think they own the land and our animals. Enough is enough.”
Bookman: Who posted that?
Rahme: Just one person that… She condones this as this is on her profile. So, it says hearted by author, right? She's condoning stuff like this being said because it's, it's not about the cat anymore. It's just about… everything else.
Valente: You can't do this! This is not the way to behave! And not – certainly not the way to behave when you've rescued an animal! I mean, it's disgusting behavior.
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman, Narrating: At some point, I did a little digging, on Rose and Debbie. Here I am, waist-deep in a story about a geriatric cat that suddenly involves allegations of white supremacy and the colonizer mindset. I figured it’d be good to understand who these people are, outside of Tibbs, try and build a profile.
So, in addition to deep Googling and whatever, I also ran their names through the New Hampshire court records database. Nothing came up for Rose, but something did come up for Debbie.
A felony case from 2021 – not that long ago. A situation with a tenant, someone renting an apartment in one of Debbie’s other properties.
[MUSIC OUT]
Sonia Stagen: And it had to be cash.
Bookman: So, you paid cash every month?
Stagen: Yes. She gave us a receipt, but we had to pay cash. Why? I don't know.
Bookman, Narrating: This is Sonia Stagen. For a while, she lived on the first floor in a totally different building, paid rent to Debbie. And Sonia was directly involved in the 2021 incident. Her name is all over the court file.
So, here’s what allegedly happened.
Again 2021, deep pandemic. Sonia’s own mother, an elderly woman, had come from Puerto Rico to live with her following Hurricane Maria. She’s in failing health and Sonia was essentially nursing her – at-home hospice.
March of that year, it was clear Sonia’s mom didn’t have much time left and so, the entire extended family comes to Manchester for a final visit. And then, Debbie, their landlord, shows up at the apartment building.
Stagen: So, at the end, when my mother was really at, just at the end, we were, all the family was there. We had a house full and, uh, she knocked on the back door.
Bookman, Narrating: According to the police report, another tenant in the building had called Debbie to complain about the noise. Debbie shows up, and allegedly, begins yelling at everyone, tries to break up this hospice gathering. The situation escalates. Here’s what Sonia told the police.
Stagen: She was calling me– she was using the n-word. She called me a “Mexican.” She called me an “n.” She called me everything in the book and everything. And we kept telling her, “Deb, you know, please, you know, my, my mother's here. She's in, in the bed.” And, and my mother got all, ya know, hearing all that screaming and pushing and fighting, and everybody had to get her out.
Bookman, Narrating: According to the police report, Sabrina was there as well. It isn’t exactly clear, but one of them – Debbie or Sabrina – leaves the house, goes to the car, and grabs something. And then, Debbie approaches two of Sonia’s other family members, who were on the front porch.
Stagen: She went around the front, and that's where my son and my nephew from Chicago were here. And that's when she attacked them with a, with a scissors. And it was like a big old thing, ya know?
Bookman, Narrating: According to the report, Debbie waved the scissors within a foot of the nephew’s face. Nobody was hurt. Debbie left the house.
She eventually gets on the phone with a police officer, and gives her side of the story. According to the report, she claims that Sonia’s family members were aggressive, threatened her when she asked them to keep quiet. And the scissors? They were just to cut down a “For Sale” sign, she tells the police.
A warrant is issued. Debbie is arrested and charged with a felony for threatening Sonia’s family.
But eight months later, December of ‘21, the county prosecutors drop the case before it goes to trial.
I reached out to the prosecutor's office, and they said the lawyer who handled the case no longer works there. So, it’s not exactly clear why the charges were dropped. The best theory I’ve come up with is that some of the witnesses lived in Chicago, and it was too much trouble.
Sonia says before this night, she’d never had any problems with Debbie as a landlord – certainly had never heard her use racist words.
Stagen: She wanted to be cruel, ya know? She's like a little vicious thing that I didn't see before, ya know? Sometimes we don't really know people. You think something, but it's something else, ya know? Yes.
Bookman, Narrating: Sonia actually heard about Sgt. Tibbs, even though she now lives on the other side of the city. She saw the posts on social media.
I recently asked Debbie about what happened with Sonia, and she told me that there wasn’t much to tell – that there was a noise complaint and that Sonia’s family was aggressive with her.
Basically, what she told the police.
She did address the allegations about using racist language. She told me that Sonia, quote, “decided to make racial comments – go to the racial thing. That’s all.”
Debbie is denying she said anything racist, just like in the situation with Rose.
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman, Narrating: The day after the “Hashtag-Justice For Tibbs” protest, a city Animal Control officer gets handed the case – a hornet’s nest of a case.
A guy named John. He talks with Rose, and goes and visits Debbie, but curiously, never actually sees Tibbs. Like, no wellness check.
Bookman: He didn't lay eyes on the cat?
Valente: No. So, he saw pictures of the cat, but not lay eyes on the cat.
Bookman, Narrating: At this point, it’s only been three days since Debbie and Rose had the porch conversation. Then, the social media posts, the threats, the protest. And now, Debbie decides to temporarily close down Myths and Maidens. Her employees don’t feel safe.
Bookman: At any time, did you think to yourself, “I should just give this cat back?”
Valente: Freaking heck no! I-I could very easily have given the cat back, but would I have done that? Not, not at all, unless somebody responsible could take– I'm feeding the cat chicken livers! Who's gonna feed the cat chicken livers?! Okay? I'm feeding the cat four times a day. Who's gonna do that?
Bookman: But why couldn't Rose have taken care of the cat?
Valente: Why did she put her on the street in the c– I found it in that condition! Why would you put it on the street in that condition? And how do I know it's Rose's cat?!
Bookman, Narrating: This is still, by the way, a point of contention for Debbie more than six months on. She will not admit that Tibbs was actually Tibbs, even though she posted photos of the cat on Facebook that everybody has seen – even texted photos to Rose initially, and that cat is pretty clearly Tibbs.
John, the Animal Control officer… by this point, he’s pretty sure it's Rose’s cat. Rose had shown him photos of Tibbs on her phone. He had called her vet, who confirmed Rose had brought Tibbs in for care in May.
So, he tells Debbie… Look, it's time to give Tibbs up. The cat will not immediately go back to Rose’s because there is still an open investigation into whether she’s been neglecting Tibbs. So, instead, Debbie is told to bring Tibbs to the local animal shelter, at least temporarily, until they can determine if it's safe for Tibbs to go back home.
John from Animal Control suggests she talk to a lawyer if she’s concerned. Debbie agrees.
Valente: And yes, could I take the non-confrontational, the easy route? Yes, I could. Would I? No, it goes against my personality. I don't believe in it, okay? So, I won't do it. And you can bully me all you like and you can call me… me. I can take whatever storm you bring my way.
Bookman, Narrating: Storm clouds are forming.
The day after Animal Control gets involved, Rose wakes up and texts John, the officer, “Good morning. Can we please get my cat Sgt. Tibbs back today?”
He responds, “If she does not bring the cat over today, we will continue down the warrant route.”
Then, later that morning, Rose is at home, working, scrolling her phone, and she sees a post from the Manchester Animal Shelter about a dead cat.
Garcia: “Deceased longhaired, gray and brown tabby with a shaved back found on Kelly and Montgomery…” Right here. Uh, “...in Manchester. If you think this may be your cat, please contact the animal shelter at 603–” ya know? And then, I'm like, “That's my cat.”
Bookman, Narrating: The animal shelter is alerting the public that they have a dead cat on their hands. A dead cat who matches Tibbs’ description – long hair, same coloring, some shaved patches, found at the intersection.
“If you think this may be your cat.” Rose knows that’s her cat.
But none of this makes sense. Wasn’t he supposed to still be with Debbie? Why was he found at the intersection near her house? And pssh… Tibbs is dead?!
Garcia: [SNIFFS] But, um, I'll tell you one thing – Debbie's biggest mistake was coming to my door and telling me that she has my cat. That's her biggest mistake ‘cause I'm not, I'm not, I'm not gonna give this up. I can't, I can't let Tibbs go down like that. I can't.
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman, Off Mic: Would–
Garcia: He lived, he lived– He's more, he’s more than that. He lived, he's– [VOICE BREAKS] His life means a lot more than that. [SNIFFS]
Bookman, Narrating: A 19-year-old tomcat from Manchester, New Hampshire had gone missing, been found, and is now lost again.
How did Tibbs die? The final moments of his final days. That's on part three.
[MUSIC UP]
“The Final Days of Sgt. Tibbs” is a production of the Document team at New Hampshire Public Radio.
[MUSIC OUT]
Episode 3
Lauren Chooljian, Narrating: Just a heads up before listening, there’s explicit language throughout the series that might not be suitable for all ears. Also, if you’re interested, we have photos, links, and more at NHPR.org/Tibbs.
Todd Bookman, Narrating: I’m not on Instagram, so I didn’t know anything about the Tibbs situation when it first blew up. I hadn’t seen any of Rose’s posts.
I’m also not on Facebook. And so, I hadn’t seen any of the posts Debbie and Sabrina put up trying to defend themselves.
But a tattoo artist acquaintance of mine saw the posts, reached out to my wife, told her I should look into what was happening. She then texted me.
But I couldn’t fully understand the chronology of everything. It’s hard to read the internet from start to finish. It's designed to throw you into the deep end.
I did find the annotated Google map that Rose had posted of where she lives, and where Myths and Maidens is, and where Tibbs liked to prowl.
So, on Tuesday, July 2nd, a few days after the protest, I went to Rose’s house, cold. Gumshoed it. Knocked on her door.
And in hindsight, I was interviewing her that first time at an extremely raw moment in her life. That was the day of her cat’s death, under cloudy circumstances.
But she had two friends with her, and she made clear that she wanted to tell her story about how Tibbs had gone missing, about how she grieved his death, and then, about how he was found, how the person who found him didn’t want to give him back.
And about how that very morning, she saw a Facebook post from the Manchester Animal Shelter – a confusing post because it said a deceased cat had been found at the intersection of Kelley and Montgomery streets, close to Rose’s house.
[OUTSIDE SOUND FADES UP]
Rose Garcia: And now, the post is all gone on Manchester Animal Shelter.
Bookman: I don't understand why they would post it. Maybe I'm missing something…
Garcia, Off Mic: I don’t know…
Bookman: …‘cause they thought it was– They thought they were trying to put the word out like a, a missing cat maybe?
Garcia: Right, right. And now, the post is gone, so I, uh, I don't, what– [CRYING] Where is, how did my cat die?! What the fuck is going on?! [SOBS] Where, like, what happened?! What, h-how did, how, why, why is it more than one story to my cat's death? [SNIFFS] And I swear, she's, she has this shop, and I can't help but think she's, like, cursing me or something. Like, she, she killed my cat or some shit like that! Some crazy shit like that! Like, I can't, like… [OUTSIDE SOUNDS FADE OUT]
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman, Narrating: That morning, the day Rose learned Tibbs died, she was about to drive to the animal shelter, to try to figure out what was happening.
But then, the police showed up at her house. In the street outside of her apartment, they told Rose about Tibbs, but not anything about how he died or why the animal shelter employee had phrased the post the way they did. She had all these questions, but nobody had any answers for her.
Rose told me all this. So, that afternoon, after leaving her porch, I picked up the phone and called Debbie, introduced myself, made a date for the next morning.
And that’s when Debbie brought me upstairs to the vacant apartment above Myths and Maidens – me, Debbie, and her daughter Sabrina, sitting on the floor. And I asked them for their side of the story. What happened to Tibbs? How did he die?
[MUSIC UP AND OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: Debbie and Sabrina, after Animal Control left, ultimately decided to give Tibbs up. They never wound up consulting with a lawyer.
So, on that Tuesday morning, Sabrina packed up Tibbs’ stuff. Debbie says she had a work meeting that morning, so Sabrina drove him the 10 or so minutes to the Manchester Animal Shelter.
Sabrina Rahme: Uh, he was in the carrier. Uh, I put a towel over him so he wouldn't, like, panic or freak out and wouldn't be stressed. Uh, I take the food in first. Like I park, I take the food in first.
Bookman, Narrating: The chicken livers. An employee comes and takes them from her. Then, she walks back out to the parking lot to grab Tibbs.
Rahme: So, I go into, I go back to the car, I grab the carrier. I'm moving the carrier, and some, something feels off to me. Something, something feels off. So, I lift up the carrier and… [SIGHS]
Debbie-Ann Valente, Off Mic: Okay, I'll take over. Otherwise, you’re gonna have tears. And… [TSK SOUND]
Bookman, Narrating: It's hard to hear, but Debbie jumps in and says, “I’ll take over. Otherwise, you’re gonna have tears.” Sabrina gathers herself. The three of us, in this empty, echoey apartment.
Bookman, Off Mic: If you want to keep going, it's up to you.
Rahme: [BREATHES IN AND OUT SLOWLY] The cat was lying in the carrier. [VOICE BREAKS] I, I didn't know what was happening. I didn't know what was going on. [CRIES, SNIFFS, CLEARS THROAT, SNIFFS] So, the guy comes up. I-I've put down the carrier at this point on the concrete, [SNIFFS] and he comes up. He unzips it. He shakes the animal. [SNIFFS] Like, he’s, he’s in the carrier. And eventually, he zips up the carrier and he, um, [SNIFFS] he carries the box and the carrier inside, and I follow behind him, [SNIFFS] and we get everything organized. [SNIFFS] The animal is, he's placed on the side… [SNIFFS]
Valente: Did they take it, did they take him out of his bag?
Rahme: No, not, not at that time. [SNIFFS] They left him by the counter at the time ‘cause he was asking me questions about where the cat was initially found when we found him. I said we found him, uh, between, like, here near Kelly Street. [SNIFFS] [FADES DOWN]
Bookman, Narrating: Kelly Street and Montgomery. This is why the shelter that morning posted about a found cat at this location. They thought Sabrina had just found Tibbs.
The employees didn’t understand the whole backstory, didn’t know Debbie and Sabrina had had him for three weeks, didn’t know about Rose, didn’t know about the mess on the internet.
And so, Rose finds out her cat is dead because she sees this misleading Facebook post.
But Rose didn’t know these details yet. So, the next day, July 4th, I covered a parade in a small town, and then I drove to Manchester, swung by Rose’s house and fumbled through what to say to her.
Bookman: I thi– ya know, I think you deserve to know. I-I feel like I'm in an awkward spot to be the one to have to tell you. And so, I guess, do you want me to play the audio of what she said or do you want me to just try to summarize…?
Garcia: No, play the audio. I wanna hear it, I wanna hear it, I wanna– I wanna hear it.
Bookman: Okay.
Bookman, Narrating: So, now it's Rose, her boyfriend Cody, and me with my laptop. And I played the recording of exactly what Sabrina had told me the day before.
Rahme, On Recording: So, the guy comes up. I-I've put down the carrier at this point on the concrete. [SNIFFS]
Bookman, Narrating: And when I stopped the recording, Rose gave her assessment.
Garcia: Can I just say, the amount of true crime videos that I watch, the amount of, uh, interrogation videos that I– the, the hours – Cody, you can attest – the hours of interrogation videos that I watch, and just hearing this, I'm like, this doesn't, somethin’, this isn't genuine. Something isn't right. This doesn’t sound right to me. Something's off to me. This is off. What the fuck happened to my baby?!
Bookman, Narrating: Rose doesn’t believe what she’s hearing – Sabrina’s version of Tibbs' final moments. But the more Rose and her boyfriend Cody talked about it, the harder it got for them. The image of Tibbs, dying alone in a car carrier.
Garcia: Sure, okay. If that's what they're saying, that's what they're saying. But what I think happened now is that I think Tibbs died due to stress, his chronic illnesses…
Cody: ‘Cause he didn't like the carrier.
Garcia: He hated the carrier!
Cody: It stressed him out!
Garcia: Absolutely hated the carrier.
Cody: [VOICE BREAKS] So, the fact that he died in the carrier makes sense because he was so stressed.
Garcia: He was so stressed. He hated the carrier. I was always– He was always loose, out when he was going anywhere out in the car, always liked looking out the windows and everything. So, he– They killed him. Simple as that.
[MUSIC IN]
Garcia: My God, he was probably so fucking scared, bro!
Cody: Probably surrounded him in darkness!
Garcia, Whispering: Oh, my God, he was so probably so fucking scared…
Cody: [CRYING] I've lost animals before. It's never hurt like this. It's never hurt like this because he didn't deserve to go yet and he, he wasn't ready to die. She did this.
Rose: She did. [CODY SIGHS]
[MUSIC UP AND OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: Let’s review the calendar again.
Friday, June 28th was the first conversation between Debbie and Rose on the porch. Saturday, the social media posts blow up. Sunday is the protest outside of Myths and Maidens. On Monday, Animal Control gets involved. Tuesday, Tibbs dies. Wednesday, I hear Debbie and Sabrina’s version of his death. Thursday, July 4th, Rose and Cody hear that version. What more unpleasantness could this week bring?
Friday, the next day, a cop shows up at Rose’s house. She’s being served a restraining order – technically, what’s called a stalking petition.
Debbie and Sabrina had gone to the local courthouse. They filed complaints about the social media posts. I’ll read a little bit of what they wrote. They’re handwritten.
Debbie’s. Quote, “She and her mob encourage violence, accusing us of stealing her sickly cat.
Since then, we have received abusive and life threatening messages.”
And Sabrina’s. “After a loss of business, mental abuse, and ongoing threats on my wellbeing, I wish not to be abused anymore.”
They filed these complaints with the court on the day Tibbs died.
After Rose is served, her friends make a GoFundMe page for her, so she can hire a lawyer, which came in handy.
[COURTROOM SOUND FADES UP]
Court Clerk, Off Mic: This is case number 456-20-24-CS… [FADES UNDER]
Bookman, Narrating: Just a few weeks after Debbie and Sabrina file the restraining order, they’re getting their day in court.
The hearing is on the second floor of a Manchester courthouse. Rose and her lawyer sit on the left. Debbie and Sabrina are at a table on the right, no lawyer. Friends and family are there, and I’m in the front row.
A lot of stalking or restraining order hearings are relatively quick in New Hampshire. Obviously serious, but they’re sometimes scheduled in batches, especially in busier courts. The judges, by and large, ask questions of the parties, try to figure out what’s going on, make an order, and then they move on.
But this hearing… this hearing would stretch over two days and nearly five hours, which one of the court clerks told me is unlike anything she’s ever seen before.
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman, Narrating: Day one, Debbie takes the stand, and she starts explaining what’s been going on, the messages she’s been receiving.
Valente, In Court: Some of them are, they’re going to burn me, they’re gonna shoot me. They’re going to burn my house down. They’re gonna tie me in an intersection and kill me like I did a cat. They are going to, that I’ve got a history of stealing neighborhood cats and they’ve gone around the neighborhood telling people to watch their animals around me.
Judge: Ma’am? Sorry, do you want to give me some background information about this cat?
Valente, In Court: Sure.
Bookman, Narrating: That’s the judge, asking about Tibbs, opening a can of worms.
The hearing turns not into a debate about the online threats, but becomes a complete airing of the entire Tibbs story, from dueling perspectives. Debbie, acting as her own attorney, actually gets to question Rose, and Rose’s lawyer gets to question Debbie.
Lawyer: So, just for purposes of time, none of these messages you can link to my client, is that fair to say?
Valente, In Court: [PAUSES] Mmmm… no.
[MUSIC UP]
Bookman, Narrating: Day two of the hearing, which was scheduled a few weeks later.
The testimony is wrapping up, the clock is reaching 4 when court is supposed to close, and something very weird happens. There’s an outburst.
[MUSIC OUT, COURTROOM SOUND FADES UP]
Garcia, In Court: What is that?
Woman, Off Mic: Fuck you! This is bull-
Judge: Ma’am! Ma’am! I want her right back in here right now.
Garcia, In Court: What the hell?
Bailiff: Eyes and ears! One just left 201. Get her!
Garcia, In Court: I don’t know… I don’t know. [FADES OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: One of Rose’s friends, who’d been sitting in the gallery, takes exception to the judge’s order that Rose’s lawyer wrap things up because it's 4 o'clock. The friend thinks Debbie was allowed more time.
This person curses at the judge – never a good idea – then, flees the courtroom. Court security grabs her, brings her back in. The judge scolds her.
Judge: Do you understand me?
Woman, Off Mic: I do.
Judge: And if you behave in a courtroom in that way again, you will be sitting downstairs in a cell.
Woman, Off Mic: Okay.
Judge: You can go.
Bookman, Narrating: Then, the woman leaves a second time, and it’s kind of hard to hear on the recording, but she says something.
Judge: Did she just start again?!
Garcia, In Court: Did she just say something?
Bookman, Narrating: Rose is sitting in the witness box, watching this play out like, what is happening? The bailiff brings the woman back in again.
Judge: You have something else you’d like to say, Ma’am?
Woman: No, I was giving a sigh. I’m, I’m upset…
Judge: It did not sound like a sigh. Sounded like the word “racist” coming outta your mouth!
Bookman, Narrating: So, what to make of this?
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman, Narrating: Actually, not just of this – one of Rose’s friends blowing up at the judge, saying she’s being racist – but of how race, specifically, figures into this whole situation with Rose and Debbie.
Rose, who identifies as a Black Dominican woman and Debbie, a white woman born in South Africa, a generation older.
Racism came up in court. It was all over the social media posts. And during the protest, Rose claimed Debbie specifically mentioned her race.
Again, Debbie has denied to me that Rose’s race had anything to do with her decision not to give Tibbs back immediately. And to hear it from Rose, that wasn’t what she initially thought or at least, what she wanted to think.
Garcia: Like, I, I'm so quick to give people the benefit of the doubt all the time. I'm like, I don't want to think that you're racist, ya know? I don't want to think all that, like, but, like, if you had the capability to say that to me, then what makes you think that it, there isn't deep down inside that there isn't just a hint of that and I ignited it, you know what I mean?
Bookman, Narrating: Rose is a Black woman living in a New England state that’s 90% white. She’s been part of social justice movements.
[MUSIC OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: In 2017, she went to Boston to counterprotest the so-called Free Speech rally, which was organized by a right-leaning group.
There’s a photo of her from that day. A Getty image that was picked up by news outlets around the county. She’s wearing a shirt with a line through a swastika, as in, Nazis are bad. In the photo, her left hand is raised in a fist. She’s mid-chant, or mid-yell. There’s an American flag in the background.
But when we talked about how she saw race in this context – not of systemic forces, but in the context of her own life, her own cat, and Debbie and Sabrina, Rose didn’t want to see it through that lens, maybe because it made it hurt even more.
Garcia: I'm not going to dig up that, the pain of my, uh… of the history, ya know, to add it to this, too. It’s – I don't want to do that, ya know? Um…
Bookman: Wait, can you tell me more about that?
Garcia: So, like, I don't want, like – I don't want my Blackness to be a part of the issue, you know what I mean? And the fact that it is, is just kind of like, uh… it's unfortunate.
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman, Narrating: The New Hampshire judge wasn’t tasked with deciding who is right and who is wrong about Tibbs, about where he should have been for his final days with Rose, or with Debbie and Sabrina.
The judge was asked to keep Debbie and Sabrina safe from harassment and threats. And that’s the ruling she makes. She imposes, essentially, a gag on Rose, to stop posting about Debbie and Sabrina.
Rose made all the posts to get the word out – a pressure campaign. And that did happen – she did get online support. But now, she’s also facing serious consequences.
She not only can’t post about Debbie and Sabrina, the judge says she can’t come near them, can’t be within 300 feet of her own neighbors, which… not that easy to do.
[MUSIC OUT, ROAD NOISE FADES UP]
Bookman: The proximity here. I mean, it's really – it's intimate.
Rahme: Yeah, it's close and tight.
Bookman, Narrating: Close and tight. It’s about two weeks after the judge’s order and I’m back at the scene. Myths and Maidens, and Rose’s house right next door.
Debbie and Sabrina say this is part of why they filed the restraining order. It’s just impossible for them to not interact with Rose if they’re all outside. And Sabrina has really been struggling with all of this.
I asked Debbie a question. Would you ever consider selling the building, just getting away from this situation? The claustrophobia of it all. Protecting Sabrina.
Valente: [ROAD NOISE FADES UP] I mean, I haven't even entertained that idea. Absolutely not!
Bookman: Sorry for asking a ridiculous question.
Valente: No, but for heaven sakes, reward bad behavior?! Oh my gosh, no! And be intimidated by bad behavior? Not a chance in heck! [ROAD NOISE FADES OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: Not Debbie’s style.
The judge wasn’t asked to figure out what happened to Tibbs. But I still wanted to know. And I hadn’t really seen for myself where this all went down, so, I asked Sabrina to walk me through it.
Bookman: I just want to get a better sense for myself like where on the property it was.
Rahme: Absolutely.
Bookman, Narrating: Sabrina says she and her friend were outside, dealing with a dead car battery.
Rahme: [ROAD NOISE FADES UP] Yeah, he was… Basically, he had come out of the brush. And we were confused, because we heard a hacking noise. And we didn’t know what it was. And we look behind us, and there is a cat sitting there. [ROAD NOISE FADES OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: Sabrina then points to a spot in the front of Myths and Maidens. “It was right here,” she says.
Bookman, Narrating: Huh. I started thinking…. When they first told me this story in their echoey apartment… Debbie told me they found Tibbs in the back, which made sense to me… Tibbs was known to hang out behind Myths and Maidens – it’s essentially Rose’s yard.
But now, Sabrina is pointing to the front of their building. I give her another chance to clarify.
Bookman: [ROAD NOISE FADES UP] So, it was right here?
Rahme: Mmhmm.
Bookman: Okay. On this side of the... I wasn’t sure if it was on the backside. Or this side?
Rahme: Yeah. [ROAD NOISE FADES OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: Something’s not adding up here. But I didn’t say anything. Together, Debbie and I continue to follow Sabrina.
Rahme: We – So, we were scared to touch him too much. We were trying to get him into the carrier. And he wasn’t getting into the carrier.
Bookman, Narrating: Apparently, at some point, they went and got a carrier.
Rahme: And he wasn’t getting into the carrier and we didn’t want him to be anywhere near the traffic or anything, so we did carry him through here.
Bookman, Narrating: The “here” she’s referring to is the front door of Debbie and Sabrina’s building. Sabrina says she and her friend carried Tibbs to the back and then tried to feed him some food. And then, they took him to the emergency vet.
So, that’s Sabrina’s story. And it doesn’t match up – the location doesn’t match up with what they originally told me.
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman, Narrating: We said our goodbyes.
Bookman: [ROAD NOISE FADES UP] Um, let me get out of your hair. Thank you for all the time you've given me this morning.
Rahme: Is there anything you need? Any–
Bookman: Oh, were you able to make a copy of the report?
Rahme: Yes, let's go get… [FADES DOWN]
Bookman, Narrating: When I got there that day, Sabrina and Debbie told me that they had just picked up a copy of the police report – something I was also waiting for the police to release.
They offered to make a photocopy of it for me. Ten pages.
Then, I got in the car, still trying to make sense of all of this.
And on the way back to the newsroom, Debbie called me. She said she wanted to clarify that Tibbs was not found in front of the store, where Sabrina had just told me he had been found.
Instead, she said that he was found around back. “Right,” I thought. Just a few yards from Rose’s property line. The same stretch of land he prowled regularly for years.
I’m not sure, but she seemed to suspect that I suspected that Sabrina hadn’t told the truth.
Debbie said it was important that the story be accurate. I said I agreed, and we said cordial goodbyes, again.
In that moment, it felt to me that Debbie understood the gravity of the situation. I’m trying to get to the bottom of this and the facts matter. I appreciated that she called me.
And maybe Sabrina was just nervous with a microphone in her face. I was willing to let it go.
[MUSIC OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: When I pulled into the parking lot of the newsroom, I got the police report out, and started to speed-read it as I walked up the six flights of stairs to my office.
The police report included a lot of things I already knew… the initial reports by Rose and all that. Summaries of their conversations. The basic timeline.
But somewhere around the third floor, I stopped cold. There was something new I hadn’t seen yet. A summary of an interview the police did with a Manchester Animal Shelter employee, the one who took Tibbs from Sabrina when she dropped him off.
Page 4 of the police report, written by a detective. It talks about how the cat was deceased when it arrived at the shelter, that Sabrina claimed the cat was alive when she had loaded him into the carrier.
Right. That’s what she had told me, too.
The report continues, quote, “Employee stated that the body was stiff and did not look like a cat that had passed within the last hour.” End quote.
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman, Narrating: Stiff? What?!
I read it again. The employee told the police that Tibbs was stiff, like rigor mortis, like maybe he hadn’t just died on the car ride over, like Sabrina said.
How long had this cat been dead? That’s next on part four of “The Final Days of Sgt. Tibbs.”
[MUSIC UP]
“The Final Days of Sgt. Tibbs” is a production of the Document team at New Hampshire Public Radio.
[MUSIC OUT]
Episode 4
Lauren Chooljian, Narrating: Just a heads up before listening, there’s explicit language throughout the series that might not be suitable for all ears. Also, if you’re interested, we have photos, links, and more at NHPR.org/Tibbs.
Todd Bookman, Narrating: In September, a sign went up outside of Myths and Maidens, the store Debbie owns. They’re closing for good, after more than 20 years in business. Everything’s 50% off.
Debbie-Ann Valente: I’m just going to use this space for something else.
Bookman, Narrating: Debbie says she tried to find someone to buy the business from her, but nothing worked out. She may turn it into a home office.
Valente: I have had a couple of people ask me, um, but I’ve got other uses for this space, ya know, so…
Bookman, Narrating: The social media posts, the Yelp reviews hurt business here. She admits that. But Debbie’s been thinking of closing the store for a while now. Her husband passed away a few years ago. I get the sense it just hasn’t been as fun to run the shop since then.
Bookman: So, the closing has nothing to do with the situation with the cat?
Valente: Oh, my goodness. You wanna know something? The cat… was a beautiful thing that happened in our life. We met a beautiful creature and I'll never let what happened with Rose taint that. So, if I want to close a store down and somebody wants to believe that it's because of the cat, knock yourself out, okay? Do whatever makes you feel good. I don't care, right? So, if they want to believe it, if they think they're important enough to close down this store because of doing the right thing, have a party.
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman, Narrating: There’s still a lot of stones and smudges and fairies on the shelves, stuff for altars. Also, there’s a ton of stuff in the Myths and Maidens basement.
That’s where we went, in October, so that I could ask Debbie and Sabrina about the police report, the allegations that Tibbs was stiff when they delivered him to the shelter that Tuesday morning; that their original story, about him dying in transit, didn’t seem to match the hard realities of the cat’s corpse.
Down a flight of stairs we go. No windows.
Sabrina Rahme: That’s what this conversation’s for, for discussing the police report, yeah?
Bookman: Yeah.
Rahme: Yeah, so…
Bookman, Narrating: Debbie and Sabrina pulled together three chairs. On the wall behind me were a bunch of metal spiderwebs, unsold. Everybody was uneasy.
[MUSIC OUT]
Rahme: That’s what a journalist does. A journalist gets both sides of the story and then… documents.
Bookman: That's– That’s what I'm try–trying to do.
Bookman, Narrating: Trying.
Rahme: Do you have a copy of it? ‘Cause I…
Bookman: Yeah.
Bookman, Narrating: I handed Sabrina a copy of the police report, the same report they had given me a few weeks prior. [SOUND OF PAPER RUSTLING]
Bookman: And you know what's in here. You've read through it?
Rahme: Yeah… I know the general gist of what's in here. Yes, I would say so.
Bookman, Narrating: My goal here was pretty straightforward – let them respond to the idea that Tibbs had not died when they claim he died, see if there were any holes.
I asked Sabrina to look over the summary of the interview with the animal shelter employee, the one who met her in the parking lot, who had carried Tibbs inside.
Sabrina started to read it aloud. [SABRINA READING UNDER] And just a note – the name of the employee is beeped out to protect their privacy.
Rahme, Reading: [FADES UP] “…A feline employee at MAS stated that the body was stiff and did not look like a cat that had passed away within the last hour. Uh… [BEEP] stated that the cat appeared to be more consistent with being deceased for a few hours. MSA–” sorry, “MAS…” [FADES OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: Maybe this was a mom protecting daughter or maybe this is just Debbie’s personality, but Debbie jumps in right away.
Valente: Okay, so I'd like to comment to that. Um… The person’s… is incorrect. That's the bottom line. That cat had not been dead hours before or, we put him in the carrier – I was there when they put it in the carrier! So, it was in the carrier and, uh, and then, I came to my meeting and she went to deliver the cat, so…
Bookman: So, you're saying that the cat was alive when you left the house?
Rahme: Yes.
Bookman, Narrating: Another employee, a veterinary technician, also wrote down notes for the police. That was released in a later report.
They wrote, “I went to take the cat out of the carrier, and noted the body was completely rigid with rigor mortis, as well as the body temperature was room temp. I did not need to confirm the cat was deceased with a stethoscope.”
But Debbie and Sabrina are not interested in further debate about this topic – why the shelter employees told the police what they did. To them, it doesn’t matter.
Valente: What matters is we know the cat wasn't dead for hours and all of that rubbish. That's nonsense. So, I'm not– We, we're good. Next!
Bookman: So, what time approximately would you have gotten in the car? Do you remember?
Rahme: I don't remember. This was months ago. I don't remember anything.
Bookman: It was early, though, right? It was early in the morning?
Valente: Very early. Very early, ‘cause I had a meeting here, in fact.
Rahme, Off Mic: This is probably why I don’t remember. [LAUGHS] Early in the morning.
Valente: It was early, um, because I had a meeting here, in fact. That's why we split and we didn't go together to the shelter, is because I had a meeting here with the city. And so, and it was, like, I think the meeting was 8 o’clock in the morning, if I'm not mistaken?
Bookman: So, who loaded the cat into the carrier? Do you remember?
Valente: Oh! We did together, um…
Rahme: The cat didn’t wanna be in the carrier.
Bookman: So, he struggled– You're saying he struggled to get in the carrier?
Rahme: Yes, he struggled to get in the carrier.
Bookman: Which meant he would have been alive.
Valente: Oh, sure. Listen, we're definitely saying that the cat was alive, okay? Shame, man!
Bookman, Narrating: Debbie shames me, and maybe she’s right for doing so. This interrogation is going nowhere.
Debbie and Sabrina say Tibbs was alive, that he was fussy about getting loaded into the carrier, the way a lot of cats are fussy. And that he died on the car ride over to the shelter, just across town, that Tuesday morning. From their point of view, there’s not much else to discuss.
Bookman: Okay. Thank you. I'm gonna get out of your way.
Valente: Thank you for seeing us again.
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman, Narrating: To Google the phrase “feline rigor mortis” is a leap of faith. It's done with eyes squinted, “safe search” on.
Thankfully, I found a research paper on the topic – actually two. One from the U.S., the other in Europe. I wanted an experts’ take on Tibbs, what his stiffness may mean, in terms of when he died. And both researchers I contacted were gracious with their time.
One told me, quote, “We remain fairly incompetent at accurately determining time since death.” It’s a guessing game. There are just too many variables and stiffness on its own is not actually as helpful as you’d think as a clue towards time of death in cats.
He said two hours is the loosest of averages, just a starting point, for rigor mortis in cats. Rigor within a few minutes? Quite unlikely, but not impossible.
The second expert from Europe said stiffness can appear within an hour, but that it usually takes longer than that. So, while the animal shelter employees seemed to have suspicions about Sabina’s story, I’ve been encouraged to use prudent restraint. And so, that’s what I’ll do.
The fact that Sgt. Tibbs’ body was stiff when it arrived at the animal shelter doesn’t tell us anything definitively.
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Bookman, Narrating: So, rigor mortis is a dead end. What’s left?
After Tibbs was given to the animal shelter, his little boy body was tagged and put in the freezer. And then, because the police were involved, there was an autopsy done – technically, a necropsy, from a team at the University of New Hampshire. Maybe that would shed a little light on things.
The autopsy results show that Tibbs was down to around 8 pounds at the time of his death.
In some of Rose’s older vet records, from 2016, Tibbs was more than 17 pounds. So, yeah, skin and bones at the end.
According to the necropsy, the likely cause or contributor to his death was pancreatitis, significant hemorrhaging. No evidence of trauma. No evidence of cruelty. No poison. No hex.
Also, there was a toxicology report done. Rose actually paid extra to have that. It showed everything was basically normal, but Tibbs had off the charts levels of vitamin A in his system at the time of his death. Too many chicken livers. It could have made him feel poorly, but it wasn’t likely related to his ultimate passing away.
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman, Narrating: So, the autopsy, it doesn’t point any fingers, cast any blame. Same thing with the feline rigor mortis experts. He was stiff, but that’s not a smoking gun, because stiffness is a moving target. The picture still feels fuzzy.
[MUSIC UP]
Bookman, Narrating: On October 13th, a few days after my basement interrogation, a detective from the Manchester Police Department did a real one.
Debbie and Sabrina went voluntarily to the station and gave separate statements. There are summary notes of those interviews that I’ve read.
Debbie and Sabrina are consistent. They found a sick cat. They tried to help him. And when they were told to give him back, they ultimately did so.
Manchester PD closes the case. No charges would be filed against anyone. Not against Rose for neglect. Not against Debbie and Sabrina for theft.
Nobody from the police department agreed to an interview and nobody from the animal shelter wanted to talk, either.
I did ask the police, what are people supposed to do in this situation? You find an animal that’s in rough shape, and you worry it’s being abused. The response I got was that you should call the police, and ask to speak with the animal control officer. So, now you know.
[MUSIC UP AND OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: There was one last piece of evidence, a possible clue into what happened. Over the summer, I asked the animal shelter if they had a Ring cam or surveillance cameras in the parking lot. They said yes, confirmed to me that they had footage of Sabrina dropping Tibbs off.
But initially, the shelter was hesitant to share that footage, and I don’t blame them. Their staff did nothing wrong and back then, the internet was going nasty.
Now, though, that the criminal investigations into Rose and Debbie are closed, the shelter agreed to let me see it. I wanted to know if Sabrina’s story lined up with the video evidence.
In January, I rolled over to the shelter, and in the lobby, with rescued guinea pigs in cages behind me, a shelter employee handed me his cell phone.
The video is less than two minutes long. No sound. The time stamp shows 8:17 a.m. It doesn’t capture when she arrives – in the video, her car is already parked.
You can see Sabrina removing Tibbs from the car. He’s in a padded box, covered with a towel.
Bookman: She’s carrying the carrier, she stops.
Bookman, Narrating: Since I couldn’t get my own copy of the video, I recorded myself describing what I was watching.
Bookman: Halfway to the door, takes the blanket off… Seems to be panicking.
Bookman, Narrating: Sabrina falls to the ground in the middle of the parking lot. She unzips the carrier, looks in. You can’t really see her face, but she’s clearly in distress. She seems to know right away he’s dead.
An employee then walks out, gets down on the ground with her. Then he looks inside the carrier. You never see Tibbs. Within a few seconds, Sabrina and the employee stand up, and walk inside out of view. The video ends.
Sabrina’s story appears to match the grainy footage. If she’s acting, and I don’t want to believe she’s acting, it’s impossible to tell.
There’s no new ground here. I thanked the shelter, and walked across the same parking lot, not really sure what to think. This investigation, or whatever it is I’ve been doing these past few months. It’s kind of over now, too.
The rigor mortis, the autopsy, the video – none of it really tells us anything for certain about the final moments of Tibbs. And while that’s frustrating, it's just where we have to leave it.
Debbie and Sabrina are the only ones who can say with certainty when Tibbs died and it's not even clear if they know.
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman, Narrating: I wanted to put a microscope to the final days of Sgt. Tibbs, see if I could get us closer to the same set of truths.
The facts of this cat’s death are now so well documented. But in the end, I don’t know that it adds up to anything, beyond a record of sadness.
Did the humans here all behave badly at times? Do things they should but maybe don’t regret? Yeah, as an outside observer, I’m inclined to think so. Debbie and Sabrina refusing to give Tibbs back – not a very neighborly gesture. Rose ginning up the online haters – also, not very neighborly.
And now me, bringing even more attention to this… Aren’t there better things I could be doing with a microphone?
Maybe a 19-year old cat just died, and we should move on. Let it go.
[MUSIC UP]
Bookman, Narrating: But then imagine if Tibbs was your own pet. And it's like… show me something more important than something you love disappearing and dying. It seems like it's worth every second, trying to figure out what happened.
[MUSIC UP AND OUT]
[PARKING LOT SOUNDS UP, CAR DOOR SLAMS]
Male Voice, Off Mic: Hello! [FADES OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: From the parking lot of the animal shelter, let's now go to another parking lot.
After the autopsy was complete, Tibbs was cremated. Rose and her boyfriend Cody drove to get his ashes in Durham, New Hampshire.
[DOOR CREAKS OPEN, OFFICE SOUNDS FADE UP]
Bookman, Narrating: We met in the lot and walked in together. Rose signed a form.
Female Voice: Just need you to sign, um… [ROSE GARCIA QUIETLY SOBBING] If you could just initial and date there, that’s all…
Rose Garcia, Off Mic: Oh, that’s sweet… [PHONE RINGS, OFFICE SOUNDS FADE DOWN]
Bookman, Narrating: And that was that. Rose walked out of a nondescript building on the edge of the University of New Hampshire campus. She finally has Tibbs.
Garcia, Crying: [SOBS, SNIFFS] At least he’s home.
Bookman: What did they give you?
Garcia, Voice Breaking: They gave me a nice– It looks like, um… [SNIFFS] It’s his ashes and it's, like, a nice maple box. It's, like… It's wood. I don't think it's – I don't know what I'm talking about, but… [SNIFFS] This is, like, really nice. And I thought that I would have to, like, try to find something to, ya know, like, I don't know… I thought that they would come in a bag or something, but this is actually really nice. [SNIFFS] It will look nice on display, so.
Bookman: What do you think you're, um, gonna do with it?
Garcia, Voice Breaking: [SNIFFS] So, I have a bunch of, like… [SNIFFS] When this all happened, like, uh, I've gotten, like, pictures of him. People have painted pictures of him and, like, given me cards and, like, flowers, so, [SNIFFS] there's, like, a little spot in my kitchen that I have that stuff, and I think I'll, like, put that– It'll look really good. I have like a nice little platter that I'll put this on, too. [SNIFFS] So, it will sit with that.
Bookman, Narrating: Tibbs gets his own little altar. His ashes will sit amongst the art and other gifts people mailed Rose.
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman, Narrating: When Debbie and Sabrina first found Tibbs, rushed him to the emergency vet last summer, Debbie asked the vet if they were possibly prolonging his agony. She didn’t want him in pain, suffering.
Rose’s agony still isn’t over.
Bookman: Um, like, are the days getting… easier?
Garcia: I always think that, but they don’t… Like, just, I can't be at, I can't, I feel like I haven't been able to grieve my cat, like… [SNIFFS] It's not nor– I feel like it's not normal. [VOICE BREAKS] Like, I'm not, like, I'm not grieving my cat like I should be, like… It shouldn't have to be like this. [SNIFFS] So, no, my day, my days don't get shorter. They just, they feel long, just as long as they were back in July.
Bookman: Does it? [SIGHS] I don't know… I'm sorry to ask this question.
Garcia, Off Mic: No, it’s okay.
Bookman: Does it feel, does it feel good in a way, to, like, have him like this back, at least for a minute?
Garcia, Crying: [COUGHS] In a way, it does. Um, it's just always going to be, like, a constant reminder of, like, how I was, like, my fight to just get this back. And now, I just have him, and it's like there's such a story to my cat, like… I'm just very happy that he's back, like… I'm just glad that this is, that this, his chapter is finally done, ya know.
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman: Alright, safe trip, guys. Nice to see you. [FADES OUT]
[MUSIC UP AND OUT]
Bookman, Narrating: There’s another version of this story we can try and tell. A version not from Rose’s point of view, or Debbie’s, or Sabrina’s. But from that of Sergeant Tibbs’.
A badass Maine Coon with a broken tooth. He probably had a million stories of his own to tell.
Stories about mice and rats, and the what-have-yous of a hot summer night on the streets of Manchester. His big furry coat, his white whiskers.
Then, his old cat body, breakin’ down on him. He’s aged. He’s weakening.
[MUSIC IN]
Bookman, Narrating: And he’s outside in the sun, and he doesn’t feel great. And right next to where he lives, he sees a person, a stranger.
And she tends to him, and feeds him, takes him to a new house. Trips to the vet. Lie-downs in the sun. The days are passing.
Then one final car ride, loaded into the carrier that he hates, but thinking at least, maybe, that he’s going home… going home, one last time.
Tibbs comes back. Rose said he always would.
[MUSIC UP]
“The Final Days of Sgt. Tibbs” was reported and written by me, Todd Bookman.
It was produced by Lauren Chooljian and Jason Moon.
Editing by Senior Editor Katie Colaneri, News Director Dan Barrick, Felix Poon, Zoey Knox, and Rebecca Lavoie, Director of On Demand Audio.
Mixing by Jason Moon. He also wrote the music you hear in this series.
Fact-checking by Dania Suleman and photos by John Tully.
Sara Plourde created our artwork. Leah Todd Lin is NHPR’s Vice President of Audience Strategy.
Special thanks to: Jeremiah Loui, Chris Benderev, Jason Brooks, Jaroslav Serdioucov, and Shaina Gates. To my own cat, Owl… he’s a punk.
“The Final Days of Sgt. Tibbs” is a production of the Document team at New Hampshire Public Radio.
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