A search for two missing dogs on North Whidbey has taken on extraordinary proportions in the aftermath of the suspicious deaths of two other dogs that were dumped in a park on the island.

Zirina Kohl’s Samoyed and husky dogs, Kiya and Kyra, went missing Nov. 22 after digging out of their outdoor pen in the area of East Sleeper Road and North Brewer Lane during a windstorm. To find them, Kohl has posted on social media, printed and distributed fliers and tirelessly searched North Whidbey with the help of volunteers. She even hired a professional tracker and used drones to look for them.

Now, even law enforcement is involved in the mystery after dogs matching their description were seen with an odd-acting man on the Coupeville ferry on Sunday.

“It’s been exhausting and frustrating,” Kohl said. “I don’t know what to do at this point.”

While posts about missing dogs and cats are common on Whidbey social media pages, the disappearance of the missing pups caused an unusual amount of concern because of the proximity of the missing dogs’ home to the dump site of the dead dogs. Since then, several people have posted on social media about possible cases of dog-napping on North Whidbey.

North Whidbey resident Jenna Smeltzer said her two dogs escaped from their rural North Whidbey yard on Nov. 19. Five days later, a hiker found them dumped at a trailhead of Dugualla State Park at the end of Sleeper Road. The sheriff’s office is investigating the case since the bodies showed signs of severe trauma; results of a necropsy are pending.

Kohl said her home is about five minutes away from the place where the dog bodies were dumped.

Kohl said nobody reported seeing her dogs loose on North Whidbey despite the fact that they are very recognizable. Kiya is a pure white Samoyed and Kyra is a striking husky. Kohl said she is worried that they might have been stolen since they are valuable. The husky has been microchipped.

Kohl said the dogs are part of her family. She is from Russia and married an American serviceman a few years ago.

After the dogs went missing, she and her husband immediately started searching and posted fliers on social media. Many volunteers helped in the search on North Whidbey, even printing out the fliers themselves and distributing them.

When nothing was turned up, she hired Three Retrievers Lost Pet Rescue to help find them. James Branson brought one of his tracker dogs, who followed the missing dogs’ trail in the Dugualla Bay Area. The tracker and his dog were stymied in the search because they couldn’t enter private property without permission.

Drones were even deployed to search the Dugualla area, but they didn’t spot the dogs either.

On Sunday, Kohl was contacted by ferry employees who said a man went on the Coupeville ferry with two dogs that matched the description of Kiya and Kyra. The man had them on ropes and acted strangely when questioned by ferry employees.

The man boarded the ferry and took the dogs to Port Townsend. Kohl immediately took the ferry to look for her dogs.

On Monday morning, Kohl was contacted by a Port Townsend resident who saw dogs matching the description loose in the Fort Worden beach area. She returned there and was met by a half dozen volunteers who again helped her search for the dogs, but to no avail.

Kohl said she still doesn’t know whether the dogs seen on the ferry or in Port Townsend are hers, which just adds to the sense of frustration.

Detective Ed Wallace with the Island County Sheriff’s Office said investigators requested video from State Ferries that may clear up whether the witnesses saw the right dogs. If they are identified, investigators can move forward with trying to identify the man.