A Queens family says their beloved dog escaped from their yard and was eventually found safe. But what happened next left them devastated. 

Leon and Nikita Rai could barely speak as they tried to talk about their dog, Blaze. 

"He's like my third son, that's all I can say," said Leon Rai. 

Blaze disappears from the family's yard

Last Thursday, the 17-month-old Golden Doodle was in their backyard in Queens Village. The driveway gate accidentally opened, and Blaze was seen on surveillance video wandering into the front yard before vanishing. 

"He's very friendly, he loves playing with other dogs," Nikita Rai said. 

When she learned the dog was missing, she said she ran around screaming, "Blaze, where are you?"

After feverishly searching and worrying, the family learned a teenager found Blaze and posted on a doorbell app looking for its owner. 

But when the family went to get the dog, the ordeal turned into a nightmare. 

"There was no Blaze"

"I went, and there was no Blaze. I'm saying, 'Where is he?' She said, 'I'm sorry, but somebody else said that it's their dog and I gave it to her,'" said Nikita Rai. 

Instead of coming home, they say Blaze was handed over to a stranger -- a woman they believe deliberately tricked the teen into giving him up. The family says the woman appeared to use a burner phone, and they haven't been able to track her down. 

"My body went cold," Nikita Rai said, adding, "That's like my child."

"All we are asking is just to return him to us," said Leon Rai. "Just bring him back."

The family contacted police and are placing posters around the area. They plan to comb social media and lean on their neighbors.

"Whatever she's doing, it just wasn't right. You stole a part of our family," Leon Rai added.

Blaze had not yet been chipped but was due to visit the vet in two weeks.