Deputies are investigating the mysterious and gruesome deaths of two family dogs that were dumped at a remote trailhead on North Whidbey this week.

Chief Criminal Deputy Evan Tingstad with the Island County Sheriff’s Office said investigators have to wait weeks for the results of a necropsy to learn exactly how the dogs died, but he said it was clear someone moved them after death. There was no evidence that they were hit by a car, but they obviously died from serious trauma, he said.

Deputies are looking for surveillance video in the area and checking into dog bite complaints and other such reports, but they have little to go on at this point.

“There’s a big piece missing out of this picture,” Tingstad said.

Anyone with any information about the dogs should contact the sheriff’s office.

Jenna Smeltzer, the owner of the dogs, said they were beloved members of her family. Beretta was a black Lab mix and a “gentle giant” who loved people. Kimber was a terrier mix who was also very friendly, and was a great wiggler, though more skittish around people.

“I often took them hiking with me,” she said. “They were my little adventure buddies.”

Smeltzer’s friend set up a Gofundme.com page to raise money to help with the cost of the veterinarian bill and the necropsy. The page is at www.gofundme.com/f/help-find-justice-for-these-bright-dogs.

On Nov. 19, the dogs escaped from the yard of their rural North Whidbey home. Soon afterward, a windstorm swept through the area. Nevertheless, Smeltzer made a huge effort to find the pooches, posting on Facebook and then walking and calling their names through neighborhoods, woods and streets for days on end.

The dogs were last seen on the day they disappeared. A resident posted about seeing them in the area of Dike and Jones roads.

Then on Sunday — five days later — Smeltzer saw that a hiker had posted on social media about finding dead dogs near a trailhead for Dugualla State Park, at the end of Sleeper Road. She went there and found her two pets piles on top of each other in the brush.

Smeltzer said the dogs’ collars had been removed. Beretta had a gash in his neck while Kimber had disturbing head trauma. She called deputies, who helped her carry the dogs to her truck. She said she originally was going to take them home to bury them, but then decided to bring them to a veterinarian for an exam.

Smeltzer explained that a specialist had to travel from Seattle to the Mount Vernon clinic to perform a necropsy in order to find out how they died. She is awaiting the findings.

“On Whidbey Island, you really don’t expect something like this to happen,” she said.

Since the dogs were found, Smeltzer received a message from a woman who said she found a dead German shepherd in the same area last year while another resident who lives nearby is currently missing two dogs. Facebook posts state that the Samoyed and husky dogs have been missing since Nov. 22 from the area of East Sleeper Road and North Brewer Lane.

The owner is enlisting the help of another dog owner to try to follow the scent of the missing doggies. A poster said anyone with information can call or text 360-296-2915.