Lily Pereg and Pyrhia Sarusi’s family to reward dog that found their bodies in shallow grave
The family of murdered Australian academic Lily Pereg and her sister will reward the dog that found their bodies in a shallow Argentine grave as details of their last day alive emerged.
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The family of murdered Australian academic Lily Pereg and her sister Pyrhia Sarusi will reward the cadaver dog that found their bodies in a shallow Argentine grave.
Police dog Ruca and her trainer Ayelen Castro, will receive about $2400AUD, which included the reward money previously been offered for their discovery.
The nine-year-old German shepherd, who is trained to find people dead or alive, found the bodies in the Mendoza property of Gilad ‘Nicolas’ Pereg.
Pereg has been charged with the homicide of his aunt, University of New England Professor Lily Pereg, and his mother, Pyrhia Sarusi.
With a black eye and in a state of distress, Gilad ‘Nicolas’ Pereg took police to the cafe where the sisters had shared one of their last meals.
On the morning of the disappearance, the family had breakfast at the Jockey Club Café in downtown Mendoza.
Pereg returned just days later with police as part of his alleged act to search for his mother and aunt, maintaining they had gone missing before their bodies were discovered at his squalid compound.
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Before the bodies were found, Pereg allegedly used his reported genius-level IQ of 180 to answer police at every turn, including with the reporting of, and searching for, his aunt and mother.
Interviews with witnesses in the downtown Mendoza neighbourhood revealed a picture of how Pereg perfected the role of distressed and concerned son, and nephew, the morning he reported the pair missing.
“When I arrived at the apartment at 8am, he was looking panicked, trying to get into the building but I didn’t want to let him in because of the way he looked.
He looked like a homeless person,” said a building maintenance manager, who did not want to be named.
“But a few minutes later police arrived and so they were let in to search the apartment.”
With a third floor balcony overlooking a leafy tree-lined street in the heart of Mendoza, the apartment (pictures on topic plan), is where the sisters spent their last night together.
Pablo Navarro, who works across the road from the apartment building, said he saw Pereg pacing up and down the street with a noticeable black eye.
“He looked like a hippie with a regular T-shirt and shorts, but even from a distance I saw this big black eye,” Mr. Navarro said via an interpreter.
The owner of Jockey Club Café, Pedro Alonso, said that Pereg returned to the cafe after the sisters went missing to show police the spot they sat by the window.
“The morning the sisters came here it was very busy, about 8am, so we didn’t really take much notice,” Mr. Alonso said via an interpreter.
“But I remember when he came the following week. He was with police and he just looked through the window to the table.”
The picture of Pereg’s allegedly meticulous cover-up comes as new details emerge on the extent of his allegedly cruel past.
Police sources revealed that Pereg had been the subject of past complaints that he was neglecting animals and eating his dogs.
Prosecutors are considering additional charges related to animal cruelty after finding four badly treated dogs and about 20 cats within his compound.
Animal welfare lawyer, Dr. Oscar Mellado, from the Civil Association for the Re-encounter and Animal Life, said Pereg’s four dogs were found in bad condition, were not eating, had filthy drinking water, and were chained in direct sunlight.
The cats, meanwhile, were in better shape but still had a number of illnesses.
The animals are being cared for by Pereg’s neighbour, and animal welfare volunteer, Adriana Benitez, who is nursing the dogs back to health at her home and administering medical help to the cats on his property.
“Yes we’ve all heard the complaints about the eating of dogs, and that there has been animal remains found across the road. But this neighbourhood is very difficult, and the remains were not on his property, so I don’t want to judge,” Ms Benitez said via an interpreter.
Originally published as Lily Pereg and Pyrhia Sarusi’s family to reward dog that found their bodies in shallow grave
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