TWA Scans Skies for a Lost Loekie

Loekie is a cross between a terrier and a poodle with black and gray hair and a tooth that protrudes out one side of her mouth. The little dog weighs about 10 pounds and her owner says she is so ugly that she’s cute.

Loekie was last seen Thursday morning being loaded onto TWA Flight 482 at the Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport.

But somewhere between Dallas, a plane change in St. Louis and Los Angeles International Airport, Loekie, who is 4, and his master, Leo Koewe, 50, of the Hague, the Netherlands, became separated.

“I saw Loekie’s cage being loaded onto the plane in Dallas,” Koewe said in an emotional telephone interview Friday from the home of a friend in Huntington Beach.

Koewe, a singer and composer, and Loekie, who has appeared on stage with Koewe, flew to Dallas Dec. 21 to visit Koewe’s sister for the Christmas holidays. Koewe planned to spend about a week in Southern California, then back to Dallas for a few days and then return to Holland.

“This is the first time that I have brought Loekie to the United States,” he said. “I wanted Loekie to come with me to the United States.”

TWA vice president Don Morrison said the airline was doing everything possible to locate the missing dog.

“We understand the total frustration of Mr. Koewe,” said Morrison, who is in charge of TWA’s public relations department. “I understand; I have a dog of my own.”

Morrison noted that St. Louis is the home of TWA and its major hub. He indicated that it was almost impossible to speculate where the dog might be.

“But we are working as hard and fast as possible to locate it,” Morrison said.

Koewe said he has been assured by TWA that the dog has water and is being fed.

“But if someone is feeding Loekie, they can see she is a dog and probably lost. Why can’t they tell me where she is?” Koewe asked in broken English.