MIRAMICHI, N.B. -- A New Brunswick woman says she is distraught and heartbroken after receiving a ransom call for her missing dog.

Denise Ramsay says her 12-year-old German shepherd golden retriever mix dog vanished from her yard in Miramichi at about 10 p.m. on Dec. 28.

She says she received a call from a blocked number on New Year's Day and the man on the other end of the line said he had her dog Sadie.

The man demanded $200 and said he wasn't going to drop off the dog until the money was transferred to him.

Not knowing if the man actually had Sadie, Ramsay kept him on the line and called 911 on another phone, but when the man realized the 911 operator was listening in on the conversation via speakerphone, he hung up.

Ramsay says if she wasn't so distraught, she would have taken the man's email and made the transfer regardless in the hopes it would have helped with a police investigation that has gone cold.

She says her family is devastated without Sadie and she's offering a $1,000 reward for her return.

Ramsay says Sadie has never wandered away from home before because she has collar that emits a sound when she reaches the perimeter of their property.