Man Busted in Bizarre Plot to Kidnap Obama Family Dog

A bizarre plot to kidnap one of Barack Obama’s beloved White House dogs is getting renewed attention following the death of the former president’s longtime family pet Sunny.

Secret Service agents arrested Scott Stockert, then 49, in Washington, D.C., in January 2016 after authorities were tipped off that the North Dakota man was allegedly traveling to the nation’s capital to kidnap a pet belonging to the Obama family.

At the time, Barack and Michelle Obama had two Portuguese Water Dogs, Bo and Sunny.

According to contemporary court reporting, the Secret Service’s Minnesota field office alerted agents in Washington that Stockert was on his way to D.C. to kidnap a pet belonging to the first family. Agents eventually located him at a Hampton Inn near the Washington Convention Center.

What they allegedly found inside his pickup truck made the case even stranger.

Stockert told agents he had two firearms inside the vehicle and allowed authorities to search it, according to reporting based on the charging documents.

Investigators discovered an unloaded 12-gauge pump shotgun and a bolt-action rifle beneath the back seat. CBS News reported that officers also recovered hundreds of rounds of ammunition, a 12-inch blade and an 18-inch billy club.

Authorities said Stockert was not registered to possess the firearms in Washington.

He was arrested and charged with violating District of Columbia restrictions on carrying a rifle or shotgun outside a home or place of business. A judge later found probable cause for the case to proceed and released him into a high-intensity supervision program while it remained pending.

The judge ordered Stockert to stay away from both the White House and U.S. Capitol and barred him from possessing real or imitation weapons while he was under supervision.

But the weapons were only part of the bizarre case.

According to the court documents cited by multiple news organizations at the time, Stockert told authorities that former President John F. Kennedy and actress Marilyn Monroe were his parents.

He also reportedly identified himself as Jesus Christ and said he had traveled to Washington partly to announce plans to run for president.

The Secret Service filing said agents had been alerted that Stockert intended to kidnap a pet belonging to the Obama family. Contemporary reports identified the potential targets as Bo or Sunny, although the publicly reported court documents did not establish that he planned to take both dogs.

Neither dog was harmed.

The extraordinary case has resurfaced a decade later as the Obama family mourns Sunny, who died at age 13 in September 2026.

Sunny joined the Obamas at the White House in August 2013, several years after Bo arrived in 2009. Both became familiar faces during the Obama administration, appearing at White House events and family functions.

Bo died from cancer in May 2021.

Barack Obama announced Sunny’s death this week, remembering the energetic dog as a beloved member of the family who remained with them long after their White House years ended. The Associated Press confirmed Sunny was 13 and had been with the family since 2013.

The Obamas also shared a collection of family photos of Sunny on Instagram, recalling how she raced around the White House grounds, chased squirrels and birds and frequently demanded attention from the family.

Despite being a Portuguese Water Dog, the family joked that Sunny actually hated getting wet.

The former president described her as “pretty much perfect,” while the family said they imagined her reunited with Bo.

Sunny’s death closes another chapter in the history of two dogs who became unusually recognizable presidential pets — and who, for a brief and unsettling moment in 2016, were also at the center of one of the stranger security cases of the Obama White House years.