Topeka ? Jag, a prize-winning golden retriever, has been missing at least nine weeks. Two California women who own him believe he’s dead and are suing a Topeka couple.

Janis Fonceca and Teddy Baxter filed a lawsuit Monday in Shawnee County District Court against Denny and Audra Snyder, whom the women hired to show Jag. The 80-pound dog had done well enough in shows to earn a place in the Golden Retriever Club of America’s Hall of Fame, according to its owners.

Fonceca and Baxter are seeking more than $75,000 in damages.

In May, Audra Snyder reported that Jag had run away from her while she was training him at an area lake, spooked by a large truck. That prompted Fonceca to travel more than 2,000 miles from her home in West Point, Calif., to Topeka in June.

Fonceca hired private investigators, and they found someone who saw Jag outside a dog show in Shawnee, Okla., a few days before Jag’s reported disappearance. That witness provided an affidavit saying Jag was seriously injured in Oklahoma.

The lawsuit claims that Jag died because of the Snyders’ negligence. Audra Snyder told The Topeka Capital-Journal that she and her husband learned of the lawsuit only Monday and had hired an attorney.