A loyal dog who refused to leave his dead owner’s side helped solve his murder case by allowing detectives to identify his body, prosecutors said.

Mandy Rose Reynolds, 26, was shot before her body was “burned beyond recognition” in a field fire in Robinson, Texas. She was found by the police on April 5, 2023, the McLennan County District Attorney’s Office he said in a statement.

Her cousin, Derek Daigneault, 29, of Wichita, Kansas, was sentenced to life in prison on Nov. 7 for her murder following an investigation that spanned two states, according to the district attorney’s office.

And one of the keys to identifying Reynolds was his white-haired labradoodle, Titan.

Police found Titan near her body, barking “frantically.” He refused to leave the area and did not allow police to capture him, prosecutors said.

The next morning, they removed the body, but a passerby found Titan sitting in the same place. That Good Samaritan called Robinson Animal Control, who discovered that Titan had a microchip and belonged to Reynolds.

“The keys to this case were a heroic and loyal dog named Titan and extraordinary cooperation between law enforcement agencies in multiple jurisdictions and states. That combination has brought justice to Mandy and safety from a violent and dangerous criminal,” Assistant District Attorneys Ryan Calvert and Alyssa Killin said in a statement.

Robinson police later learned that Reynolds lived in San Marcos, Texas. San Marcos police were contacted and went to his home, but found it completely empty, with all of his belongings removed and his black Honda Accord missing, according to the news release.

A license plate database revealed that the car was somewhere in Wichita, Kansas.

The Wichita Police Department was alerted and on April 8, 2023 saw his vehicle and attempted to stop him.

However, Daigneault was behind the wheel and the attempt to stop him ended in a high-speed chase that lasted nearly 30 minutes and reached speeds of more than 100 mph.

The Honda Accord eventually crashed into another vehicle and Daigneault fled on foot to a nearby grocery store, where he “hid on a shelf behind canned goods,” the prosecutor’s office said.

A search of Reynolds’ car in Wichita led police to find a .380 pistol on the floor of the driver’s seat.

Meanwhile, in Robinson, local police determined that the body had been burned inside a large plastic container and police found a fired .380 bullet casing that was burned inside that container, according to the release.

Surveillance video footage from a Walmart in San Marcos, Texas, showed Daigneault purchasing a large plastic container identical to the one Reynolds’ son was burned in, a shovel and a can of gasoline on the morning of April 4, 2023. The video also showed him leaving the store. in Reynolds’ car and Titan sticking his head out the car window.

The medical examiner eventually formally identified the body as Reynolds through dental records. It was determined that he died from a gunshot wound to the head and a .380 bullet was recovered from his remains.

The Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Laboratory confirmed that the bullet found in his body and the shell casing found by Robinson police were fired from the gun found in Daigneault’s possession, the district attorney’s office said.

A lawyer for Daigneault did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.