Puppy Love | Trained to Kill
episodePreviously titled “Puppy Love” — renamed by the publisher on Aug 3, 2026
Transcript
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What happened the morning Mark Stover went missing?
I remember being woken up early in the morning by a hellacious barking.
It was 2009, three days before Halloween, a time when the boundaries between the living and the dead become blurred. Stephanie Poore said the dogs next door were going crazy.
And they were upset and it was loud.
What did you think to yourself when you were lying in bed listening to that?
Um, something was going on over there and I wanted to get some more sleep and I was going to have words with Mark.
Who was Mark Stover and why was he called the Dog Whisperer?
Mark was Mark Stover, Stephanie's next door neighbor and her boss. Stephanie was a dog trainer at Mark's facility in Anacortes, Washington, an island community about 80 miles north of Seattle. He had built a successful business working with the dogs of the rich and famous and had earned the nickname the Dog Whisperer of the Pacific Northwest. That morning, Stephanie made her short commute to work. She assumed Mark had already left to meet a client in Seattle.
And I'm on the phone leaving a message with him and he's in the driveway. The car is in the driveway, parked up by the house. And I'm thinking, wow, that's weird because he really, he's probably going to be, you know, a little antsy because he would have rather been gone by now.
Mark had a reputation as a bit of a pit bull, intimidating and impatient.
I saw who I thought was Mark. going into the house, coming out of the house, putting stuff in the back of the hatch.
What made you think it was Mark?
Because it was his hat and his jacket. He opened the door to the car, looked at the front windshield, grabbed something off the front, and then just tore, like literally tore down the driveway.
Then Stephanie went up to the house to the bathroom. As she walked up the driveway, she saw tire marks from the car and some spots of blood on the gravel. Stephanie assumed that the blood belonged to Ding, Mark's guard dog. Ding recently had surgery.
I explained it away that Ding must have ripped her stitches out, out here.
The blood wasn't the only sign something was wrong.
I could smell the bleach before I even opened the door.
Stephanie stepped inside. She noticed a bedroom door that was usually never shut was closed. And as she went into the house, Stephanie saw three big spots on the floor. Did they have a color?
It was blood. It was red, dark, dark red.
Stephanie was worried. She kept calling Mark, but he never answered. Stephanie hoped the blood was from Ding's surgical wounds. She was doing her best to avoid imagining the worst. But the next morning, when she came back to work, she was startled to see Ding sitting by the back door.
She was on all fours and she was growling. Something had happened to her. Maybe she had had a stroke. It was obvious one eye was in a horrible mess. We couldn't find Mark. I was calling him. I left a message, Mark, we're really concerned. Where are you? You know, why is Ding here?
An unsettling feeling hit Stephanie.
I can only describe it as evil. something horrible, something terrible. I knew something bad had taken place.
Stephanie called 911. Mark's new girlfriend had also called the police after not hearing from him. Soon after, sheriff's deputies arrived on scene. Investigators believed the bleach, the blood, and Mark's vanishing act all added up to one inescapable conclusion.
It was a cold-blooded murder.
But detectives had no idea they were about to step into a hall of mirrors where nothing was as it seemed.
I've never seen in my career a case that has as many twists and turns and mysteries as this case with Mark Stover.
They soon discovered a story tangled in obsession.
We don't have the truth yet.
We have some of the truth, but we don't have all of it. But who was the hunter and who was the hunted? I'm Peter Van Sant. From 48 Hours, this is Trained to Kill. The dog trainer, the heiress, and the bodyguard. Episode 1, Puppy Love. Puppy Love The coastline of Washington State, just north of Seattle, is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Back in the 1800s, my ancestors were homesteaders on an island not far from Anacortes, Washington. It's gone now, but one of my great-greats even had a small apple orchard on Orcas Island. Anacortes is the gateway to the San Juan Islands. where ferry boats depart to these wooded jewels.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What happened the morning Mark Stover went missing?
0:04–0:43
2
Who was Mark Stover and why was he called the Dog Whisperer?
0:43–8:57
3
What was Mark Stover's early life like and how did he get into dog training?
8:57–15:06
4
How did Mark Stover become a famous dog trainer to the rich and famous?
15:06–19:04
5
Who is Linda Opdycke and how did she meet Mark Stover?
19:04–20:25
6
What was the nature of Mark and Linda's relationship and partnership?
20:25
7
What were the initial signs of trouble on the day of Mark's disappearance?
0:04–6:09
8
What challenges did the investigation face in uncovering the truth?
6:09–28:28