Upon further thought, the dog in the kennel is rational. Perhaps they put this particular dog in a kennel at bedtime because it pees in the house at night. This would indicate his or her death occurred during the night or early morning, otherwise the dog would've been released from the kennel.
Again, the dog was in a closet, not a kennel.
My dad puts one of his dogs in a kennel/cage at night. So the dog being in the kennel makes sense.
My take on the dog closed in a closet/kennel. It was a German Shepherd, and probably trained for security purposes due to their age and remote location.
We have a seven pound Biewer Yorkie and when someone comes he can become noisy and aggressive, the first thing we do when we are expecting someone is put him in his crate. I think that is a big clue, they were expecting someone.