That's a horrible story, soop.
I had two small puppies, after the death of a little dog, when I was living in a hilly village. They were brother and sister, and I had trained them to use a dog flap while I was at work. One summer evening I got home from work and they were missing, but the big back gates were firmly shut, we couldn't understand it. Almost everyone in our Close went from door to door, asking neighbours in the village to search their gardens.
After a few hours, it was getting dark and I was really miserable, there was a shout and the puppies came romping up the Close, followed by a friend. A little boy of six or seven had been able to see them playing from his bedroom window up the hill behind us, had been left home alone while 'ill', had gone in to my garden just to play with them, then decided to keep them. He had shut them in his father's shed. When my neighbours called on the house, his father, who had been fielding requests for a dog for ages, had a sudden suspicion as to why his son had been acting so furtively all evening and went to check.
I often wonder what would have happened, how long it would take to find them if we hadn't had such good neighbours, would he have given them water or anything to eat.