STIGMATA 


NUMBER 22 

1985 

$3.00 


THE PROJECT STICMA REPORT ON THE CONT 
INVESTIGATION INTO THE OCCURRENCE OF ANIMAL 


STIGMATA SUBSCRIPTIONS : This issue - Number 22 - is the on,ly edition to ap¬ 
pear in 1985. Barring the unforseen, we will publish a single issue in 1986, 
most likely in late summer or fall. 


The subscription cost per issue is $3.00 (United States, C 
$4.00 (all other countries). The cost for any two issues ( 
bers below) is $5.00 (U.S. f Canada,Mexico) or $7.00 (all o 


anada & Mexico) or 
see avaiable num- 
ther countries). 


NUINC 

MUTILATIONS 


BACK ISSUES : The only currently-available back issues are 
13 (2nd quarter 1981), Number 14 (3rd quarter 1981), Numbet 
1982), Number 17 (2nd quarter 1982), Number 19 (4th quarter 
(1983) and Number 21 (1984). 


as follows: Number 
16 (1st quarter 
1982), Number 20 


The cost for back issues is $3.00 each or two for $5.00 (U 
and $4.00 each or two for $7.00 (all other countries). 


.S.,Canada,Mexico) 


NOTICE : All payment must be in the form of checks drawn on 
money orders, U.S. cash or Canadian cash. If this is not c 
tential foreign subscribers, we ask that they contact us r 
sibility of some kind of exchange agreement. Make checks o 
able to Thomas R. Adams, 


0.S. banks, U.S, 
convenient for po- 
egarding the pos- 
money orders pay- 


Qur Address: PROJECT STIGMA 


P. 0 , Box 


V 094 


Paris, Texas 75460 USA 



395 
















ANIMAL MUTILATIONS - 1983(1984 

Our last full-fledged summary of mutilation reports covered the events of 
1982 and appeared in STIGMATA No. 20 in 1983, so e have some catching up 
to do. Since the "up" year of 1980, mutilation reports have been sporadic¬ 
ally consistent - mostly isolated reports with* nothing remotely resembling 
the onslaught of the mid-1970 1 s■ Some of the recent reports are of high 
"classic 11 quality; there just aren't that many of them. No one geographic¬ 
al area can be said to have predominated over the last years, although 
some areas have generated more reports than other regions - the Tacoma- 
Seattle area, for instance, and southwestern South Dakota and Central and 
North Central Texas. The following is a summary of mutilation and potent¬ 
ially mutilation-related reports from 1903 and 1984: 

1983 


ARIZONA 


Reporter Mary Frei of the Santa Fe bureau of the ALBUQUERQUE (N.Mex*) JOUR¬ 
NAL suggested we might want to talk to an agent of the Arizona Criminal In¬ 
telligence Agency in Tucson, as he had information regarding mutilations in 
the Tucson area in 1983. We caught agent Francis Karn virtually as he was 
preparing to clear out his desk. His agency was beiog phased out completely 
and he was to be re-assigned as an investigator for the Arizona Department 
of Public Safety. He knew of the apparent mutilation of three bulls in Pima 
County (the county of which Tucson is the seat), south of Tucson. All three 
animals died between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday of 1983. Two bulls were 
owned by one rancher, the third by another rancher. The first two were found 
approximately 100 yards apart and the third was about 200 yards from the 
second. They were laying in a straight line from northeast to southwest. The 
genitals, tongues and rectums had been removed from all three bulls. Unfor¬ 
tunately, Karn did not find out about all this until over a week later. How¬ 
ever, one of the ranchers happened to be a personal friend of his and Karn 
vouched unequivocally for his credibility. As has been oft-repeated before, 
the rancher was most puzzled by the lack of normal or expected predation and 
scavenging on the carcasses. There are rumors of other mutilations in the 
Tucson area that have been investigated by law agencies, but no details have 
been forthcoming. 

ARKANSAS 

MID-FEBRUARY - GARLAND COUNTY (HOT SPRINGS AREA) 

The remains of three dogs - apparently Doberman pinschers and between 3 to 
5 months old - were found in a creek. The animals had been skinned complete¬ 
ly, "like you skin a rabbit", and one appeared to have been shot, perhaps 
with a .22. Dog-skinning outbreaks crop up now and again in many areas a - 
cross the country. Most likely, the pelts arc shipped to Europe, say inves- 

Copyright 1985 by Tticmas R. Adams 


396 






3 


tigators, from which they are shipped bac f k to the Western Hemisphere as coats 
and stoles labeled as being from more exotic fur-bearers. (Source: THE SENTI¬ 
NEL; Hot Springs, Arkansas; 2-15-83; Credit: Pam Trumble) 

JUNE 3 - PIKE COUNTY f 

Farmer Claude Lowery of the Langley area in northern Pike County found the 
carcass of one of his cows under a patch of trees (Pike County is best known 
as the site of the "Crater of Diamonds" in the southern part of the county}* 
The cow was missing its left eye and the uterus, and the tongue had been ap¬ 
parently cut out- Investigating Deputy James Cogdell suspected the animal 
had been shot with a tranquilizer, Both Lowery and Cogdell were convinced 
it was the work of humans, not predatory animals. But..-this was nothing new 
to Lowery- He had lost two other cattle to apparent mutilators back in mid- 
June of 1981. Reporter Tommy Jacques wrote in the county seat newspaper: 

The first incident was discovered on June 14, 1981 as Lowery crossed his pasture 
during his morning check of his cattle- Checking the night before, Lowery had 
discovered no side cattle. That morning he found one of his finer young cattle, 
a 400-JJb. heifer yearling, dead with incisions ard hunks of hide missing from 
its flank and abdomen, as well as a missing left eye. Two days later, after he 
had discovered another ccw dead and mutilated, Lowery called the sheriff 's of¬ 
fice and a deputy was dispatched. The second ccw was also missing its left eye, 
though it had no marks or cuts on the body. The deputy and Lowery proceeded to 
examine the oow further. "He thought she might have been shot in that eye so we 
took a meat saw and sawed the skull off and checked that out. She hadn’t been 
shot". In their investigation, the two also found the cow's tongue had been re¬ 
moved and all of the animal's blood had seemingly been removed from its body. 

The sheriff's department kept watch for a week but whatever had occurred twice 
failed to occur again.... 

That is, until a little less than two years later. Reporter Jacques also 
wrote that Dr. James Cornelius of the diagnostic lab at the state veterin¬ 
arian’s office in Little Rock stated that, in his five years with the de¬ 
partment, he had yet to give or hear of a diagnosis of an actual mutilation 
(of course, he didn’t see any of these, either). It was reported that no 
tracks were found around any of the carcasses; this indicated to Cornelius 
that the animals’ parts were removed by birds, likely buzzards. Lowery re¬ 
mained adamant that scavengers were not to blame, and he resolved to keep 
a closer watch on his herd* (Source: THE DIAMOND; Murfreesboro,Arkansas; 
6-30-83; credit: Lucius Parish; UFO Newsclipping Service; Plumerville,AR) 

CALIFORNIA 


Not much was reported in California in 1983, compared to previous years, 
which saw a handful of reports from northern California and the furor 
caused in the Los Angeles area by 150 to 200 cat mutilations from 1976 
through 1902 (see STIGMATA No. 20). 1983 saw mutilation events with a bit 
of a different twist: 22 pelicans near Monterey and 23 pelicans in San Diego 
and Orange Counties were the victims. Their pouches were slit,their wind¬ 
pipes smashed or their chests cut open(with a "three-pointed instrument") * 
(Source: DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 10-8-83) 


397 




4 


COLORADO 

MAY 21 - WASHINGTON COUNTY 

A ranching couple near Lindon discovered their third mutilated cow. They had 

suffered previous mutilations in June 1977 and October 1960. In the latest 

event, a neighbor reported seeing a helicopter over the pasture within one or 
two days of the discovery of the carcass,(Source: Linda Moulton Howe) 

JUNE - ELBERT/EL PASO COUNTY 

In the Ramah area, a rancher discovered the carcass of a 3-year-old heifer. 
Seeing the carcass from a distance, he tought it was a steer because he was 
unable to see an udder* The udder had been cleanly removed. 

MID-AUGUST - ELBERT/EL PASO COUNTY 

The same Ramah-area rancher who was struck in June lost another cow in Aug¬ 
ust, The animal was seen alive and well on a Saturday afternoon and it*s 

carcass was discovered the following Monday. It was suspected tha the 2-year- 
old cow had died on Saturday night-Sunday morning. As in June, the udder had 
been completely removed. (Source: Linda Moulton Howe) 

NEBRASKA 

APRIL 5 - SIOUX COUNTY 

In the northwestern corner of Nebraska, a Harrison-area rancher discovered 
the carcass of a pregnant Hereford cow in the snow. According to a Scotts- 
bluff, Nebraska, veterinarian, "skin covering the udder and proximal medial 
thigh was gone, upper lip and end of tongue was gone". The udder had been 
removed, leaving a gaping, roughly-triangular cavity and, as has been re¬ 
peated in many other cases, patches of hide were removed from the belly near 
the naval (leaving a curiously-symmetrical wound not unlike a Rorschach test), 
(Source: Carol Werkmeister; Study On Animal Mutilations; Madison, Nebraska) 

APRIL 16 - FRANKLIN COUNTY 

On a ranch southwest of the South-central Nebraska town of Campbell, a 10- 
year-old pregnant cow was seen alive and well on Saturday after, April I6th. 
That night, as the family was watching "Saturday Night Live”, their dogs be¬ 
gan raising a ruckus. Unaccountably to the rancher, the family continued to 
sit and watch television instead of checking on the disturbance. The next 
day, Sunday the 17th, the 10-year-old cow was found dead and mutilated ap¬ 
proximately a mile from the house. The cow was lying on its right side; the 
left eye was gone, as was the hide around about half of the jaw. Four teats 
were severed at the udder and there was a bascbal 1-sixe hole below the tail 
where the anus appeared "cored out". /The animal was bloated, and there was 
no blood in evidence, except for one patch of blood about one foot from the 
nose* The head had the appearance of having been "thrown back". There were 
no tracks in the area except for a clear round print the size of a half-dol¬ 
lar about 2 feet behind the carcass. The rancher pulled it near his front 
gate. Until it was picked up on April 20, no animals touched it. Having seen 
11 A Strange Harvest", a neighbor notified producer Linda Howe. The rancher 
would discuss the case with no one,not even the sherif f .(Source: Linda M. Howe) 




398 






NEW MEXICO 


MARCH 20 or 29 - RIO ARRIBA COUNTY, DULCE AREA 

Where else bat Rio Arriba County, one of the most frequently and consistent¬ 
ly hit counties in the US - and who else but Dulce rancher Manuel Gomez, one 
of the most oft-victimized ranchers in the country...Press reports indica¬ 
ted that this March 1903 mutilation was the tenth suffered by Gomez's herd; 
our count would place it at 11; but that's quibbling; most ranchers are 
struck only once by mutilators. Gomez has been on the mutilators' "list" 
since 1976* In this instance, the cow was found on pasture behind the Go¬ 
mez residence and general store, and near the family cemetery. Gomez and 
investigating State Police Officer Gabe Valdez estimated that the cow had 
probably died late on the night of March 28 or early on the 29th. Only the 
animal's udder had been removed "with a sharp instrument". But with a dif¬ 
ference: whatever instrument had been used left a "scalloped" pattern a- 
round the incision, similar to the "pinking shears" effect reported in oth¬ 
er mutilation cases (see STIGMATA No.21,p.4). Valdez reported that there 
were bruises on the left rear and front legs; he speculated the animal might 
have been dragged (tracks or ground markings could not be discerned, as 
copious mud surrounded the site). Valdez also reported that the back appear¬ 
ed broken,(Source: RIO GRANDE SUN;Espanola,NM; 4-28-83) 

MID-MAY - LEA COUNTY 

Near Hobbs in the southeastern corner of New Mexico, a livestock inspector 
for the State Livestock Board lost a bull or steer to mutilators. The pen¬ 
is and anus were missing, with no further details forthcoming. The inspec¬ 
tor made it a point to call Gabe Valdez in Dulce. He explained that he had 
previously been most critical of Valdez and of the allegations of "classic" 
mutilations, but he apologized as a result of his first-hand experience. 
(Source: State Police Officer Gabe Valdez) 

JUNE 12 - SANDOVAL COUNTY 

Another female bovine was discovered 3i miles north of the town of Cuba, 
which lies near the southern extremity of the Jicarilla Apache Indian Res¬ 
ervation (Dulce, in Rio Arriba County, sits near the northern end of the 
same reservation). State Police Officer Mike Avilucea investigated. The 
cow's udder had been removed "with a sharp instrument", with no bleeding 
in evidence, Avilucea reported that the cow's 30-day-old calf was found 
alive next to its mother. The calf had apparently been fed within the pre¬ 
vious 24 hours.(Sources: RIO GRANDE SUN,6-23-85; ALBUQUERQUE J0URNA1*6-1 783) 

JUNE 14 OR 15 - RIO ARRIBA COUNTY 

A mutilated yearling steer was discovered on the Lobo Lodge property, north 
of ChamatChama is about 25 miles east of Dulce). The investigator was Live¬ 
stock Inspector Jim Byrd, no stranger to mute probes. This one, though, he 
found to be different - it was the first steer to have been mutilated, at 
least in the Chama Valley- According to Byrd, all the other victims had 
been cows or bulls - animals capable of reproduction. Approximately one- 
half of the animal's penis was taken, as with a "razor-sharp instrument". 


399 




o 


A 4 to 6-inch-diameter circle of hide was cut from the belly. The steer was 
estimated to have been dead for about a day. In this case# it appeared that 
scavenging birds had picked at the eyes and the tongue. There were no signs 
that coyotes, bears or other mammals had approached or bothered the car¬ 
cass. (Sources: RIO GRANDE SON , 6-23-83; ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL, 6-17-83; Gabe 
Valdez, New Mexico State Police) 

JUNE 24 - RIO ARRIBA COUNTY 

The third and last known or reported mutilation in the county in 1983 (not 
including the Sandoval County case, which was almost in Rio Arriba County)* 
A cow belonging to Arnold Vigil, a member of the Jicarilla Apache tribe, was 
discovered dead in a pasture 10 miles east of the "Gasbuggy site 11 (and a- 
bout 20 miles south of Dulce). "Gasbuggy" is the site of a 1968 underground 
nuclear explosion - actually a series of detonations conducted by the now- 
defunct Atomic Energy Commission- It's purpose was to determine if the ex¬ 
plosions would help stimulate the production of natural gas. Vigil’s cow 
was found on the 24th but was thought to have died on about the 22nd- The 
udder and anus of the four-year-old animal was reported to have been re¬ 
moved with "precision 11 , and one ear appeared sliced off. The other cows in 
the herd of about 50 were quietly grazing around the carcass when it was 
discovered*(Source: RIO GRANDE SUN, 7-7-83) 

OKLAHOMA 

NOVEMBER 13 - BRYAN COUNTY 

The carcass of a bull was discovered on the 13th in farmer Buddy Tomme’s 
pasture; it was thought to have died two days earlier. Investigating De¬ 
puty Robert Crumley reported that the animal appeared to have been shot 
with a high-powered rifle* The genitals, the tongue and one eye were re¬ 
ported missing, and it was thought some blood might have been removed- Ac¬ 
cording to Crumley,10 similar cases had been reported in the county in the 
preceding year* District Attorney Larry Grant was "leery" of calling it a 
mutilation without knowing for sure (he hadn r t seen it, apparently), but 
he expressed confidence in Deputy Crumley’s observations* The undersheriff, 
John Newcomb, said, yes, mutilations had occurred, but he was skeptical of 
the suggestion that the incidents might be related to cult activities,"It 1 s 
odd 11 , he said* "It makes you wonder. I don’t know about this other - people 
dancin’ naked on the creek bank and all that”* (Source: DAILY OKLAHOMAN, 
Oklahoma City, 11-18-83) 

OREGON 

APRIL 24 - CLACKAMAS COUNTY / 

In the summer of 1981, Mrs* Jackie Carignan of Eagle Creek, Oregon, found 
a cow of hers that had been missing both eyes, the udder, vagina and the 
heart(!)* Like the family in Franklin County, Nebraska, Mrs, Carignan sat 
in the house as her dogs and the neighbor tiogs barked and carried on, and 
she didn’t get up for a look.Later, she considered herself fortunate that 
she did not come upon mutilators at work on her cow ("I wouldn't give you 
two cents for your life if you came upon those people during one of their 


400 







rituals"). Mrs. Carignan and the sheriff's department suspected cultists. 
The mutilation-wounds on the 5-year-old Guernsey-Angus female bovine found 
in 1983 were not tr as neat" as those on the cow in 1981. Mrs. Carignan had 
no doubt,.however* that other-than-natura1 causes were to blame. The cow, 
found 200 yards behind the barn, was missing only its udder. The animal was 
last seen alive and well on the 20th, That night her dogs periodically kept 
her awake.(Source: Mrs. Jackie Carignan; Eagle Creek, Oregon) 

OCTOBER 29 - CLACKAMAS COUNTY 

Another mutilation in northern Clackamas County(just south and east of the 
Portland metro area), this time near the community of Sandy. The victim was 
a 9-month-old heifer owned by Mr. & Mrs. Charles Herrell. They found the 
carcass in their pasture as they returned home from a camping trip on Sun¬ 
day afternoon, the 30th, The ears and teats had been severed* The animal 
had apparently been hit on the back of the head with a blunt instrument. 

The OREGONIAN (Portland) reported that... 

Neighbors told the Herrells that they had seen the animal lying in the field 
early Sunday morning. Its bawling mother had attempted several times to nudge 
the dead heifer to its feet, they said. The mutilation could have been part of 
a cult ritual, said Sheriff's Deputy Jim Munsey. Formerly assigned to the sher¬ 
iff's Animal Control Unit, which recently was disbanded due to budget cuts, Mun¬ 
sey said he has investigated several animal mutilations in the county. Munsey 
said the mutilation on the Herrell farm was particularly daring because the 
pasture is easily seen from several neighbors 1 homes. Usually, mutilations oc¬ 
cur in isolated fields or in wooded areas, he added.. .."The mutilations are 
done by professionals. There is no blood, no hack job. It looks like it's been 
done by a skillful surgeon 11 , he said. "Often there will be the remains of a fire 
in close proximity to the kill, indicating there was sane sort of ceremony", 

Munsey said. No evidence of a fire was found near the Herrell*s heifer, A rash 
of animal mutilations occurred in East Clackamas County about six years ago 
and have occurred infrequently since then, he said. Because the mutilations 
often happen at night, neighbors rarely see or hear anything, Munsey said. 

(Sources: PORTLAND OREGONIAN, 11-1-83; OREGON CITY EMTRPRISE-CXXJRIER, 11-2-83; 
Credit: Donald Boates; Lucius Parish,UK) Newsclipping Service) 

TENNESSEE 

NOVEMBER 20 - STEWART COUNTY 

In the Land Between The Lakes recreation area near the Kentucky border, the 
carcasses pf 25 farm animals were found along a road. Authorities in the 
nearby county seat of Dover did not know who dumped the carcasses - or why. 
According to the Associated Press: 

"It's very weird", Stewart County sheriff's deputy Ian Smith said this week. 

"There were two piles of animals located about 200 yards apart. One pile has 
probably been there about a week and a half and the other about three or 
four days". The animals, including horses, ponies, pigs, calves, bulls, cows, 
burros and goats, were discovered by hunters Sunday in the 170,000-acre fed¬ 
eral recreation area that stretches between Kentucky and Tennessee. "It appears 





s 


that the animals were dead when they were loaded. We found no gullet wounds' 1 , 

&uith said. "We don't know who did it or why, but we hope that ear tags that 
we found on scme'of the animals will help us determine where they came from," 

(Source: PRESS HEKAU3;Portland Maine;ll-24-83; Credit: loren Coleman) 

/ 

TEXAS 

DALLAS COUNTY 

During the first few weeks of 1983, there was news coverage and much public 
concern in the suburb of Carrollton in north Dallas County over mysterious 
small pet deaths and a "high animal mortality rate in the area", A group of 
Carrollton residents organized a "Save Our Pets" committee and petitioned 
the city council for aid in solving the pet deaths. The group's door-to-door 
survey of about 30 homes in south Carrollton turned up "some 50-odd" reports 
over the preceding 5 years of pets dying under "mysterious circumstances, or 
in seizures or convulsions". The citizen’s group and a veterinarian. Dr, Bel- 
za Gordon, believed the animals were poisoned. City health officials conduc¬ 
ted their own door-to-door survey of 57 homes and reported they found only 
27 unexplained animal deaths* Assistant City Manager Jack Eades said autop¬ 
sies were conducted in five of those cases* Two autopsies were incomplete 
and, in the other 3 cases, no evidence of poisoning was found. Then, in Feb¬ 
ruary 1983, City Manager Clonis Luallen told the press that two dogs died af¬ 
ter ingesting sodium monofluoroacetate, an odorless, colorless "rat poison", 
a substance considered to be "a potential chemical warfare tool". (Sources: 
DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 1-3-83; DAILY OKLAHOMAN {Okla,City),2-17-83) 

FEBRUARY 9 - JEFFERSON COUNTY 

In Beaumont, Texas, a woman on her way to a union hall noticed the apparently 
headless body of a cow in a pasture by the road- She knew the cow's owner was 
Johnny Holley, owner of a wrecking yard and carburetor shop, and she called 
to tell him about the cow. The cow was last seen alive on the night of Mon¬ 
day, the 7th, when Holley fed hay to his herd. The cow had indeed been de¬ 
capitated and split open at the belly* The BEAUMONT ENTERPRISE reported: 

When Holley arrived at his 70-acre pasture on Sulphur and Cardinal Drive, direct¬ 
ly across from Gladys City, he found not only the ccw, but also a newborn calf 
the cow had apparently delivered during the night. "She'd just had this calf when 
they did it", Holley said later in the day, struggling with a gangly heifer calf 
lie was attempting to bottle-feed,at his garage. "The mother's body was still warn 
and the calf was still wet"* Under normal circumstances, a heifer would imnediate- 
ly lick the afterbirth off her newborn "until it was dry", Holley said. "This one 
was still wet. That must have been the way they got ahold of her* She was down 
having her calf. Can you believe anybody could be that cruel?" 

The cow's head had a 5-inch cut between the eyes. Holley thinks she was probably 
hit there first to stun or kill her. "They must have kind of pulled her neck a- 
round the tree to cut the head off. It wasn't easy to do. You could see where 
they hacked at it with an ax" # he said. The head looked as if the nock was chopped 
off at the base of the skull. At the scene, ax marks and some blood wore visible 
on the trunk of a tree* Several veterinarians said they could remember no instance 


402 





of a similar incident occurring in this area in the recent past, 
the past peopje have stolen cows from him and shot his cattle. V1 
'em cut a hindquarter off and leave the rest* But I've never seei|i 
this", he said, shaking his head. Holley said none of the ocw's 
missing. The corpse was not otherwise mutilated. "They went to 
and they didn't take a thing", he said, knitting it may scund 
said he thinks whoever killed the mother oow was after her blood 
an aniiral in the neck, the blood is going to shoot out", he said 
hardly any blood out there". (Source: BEAUMCKT ENTEEraiSE, 2-9 
Parker) 


Holley said in 
:'ve even had 
anything like 
Ijxidy ports was 
.1 this trouble 
zarxe, Holley 
"When you cut 
"There was 
Credit: Scott 


a:, 

hi 


b;j 


MARCH 15 - CAMERON COUNTY 
Around 7:00 PM that evening, a "huge", silent flying objec 
with a yellow-green light on top - was seen over the Harli 
treme southern Texas (an area best-known in Fortean circle 
Bird" reports of the mid-seventies - and a number of class 
tilations have occurred there over the past decade). A man 
the object hovering over his barn in the Combes area. The 
found that one of his horses was missing. Convinced there 
he began reporting to his pasture every night thereafter, 
front any additional intruders with a shotgun. Also, a mut 
found in the same area, near Primera, the next morning, ac 
dio news report. The eyes and genitals had been removed fr 
was also reported to have been "drained of blood". A woman 
in the Combes area reportedly suffered a virtual "nervous 
diately thereafter, and she was refusing to discuss the in| 
Robert Cribble, Eleanor Galt) 

JUNE, JULY - GRAYSON COUNTY 

On a farm west of Sherman in North Central Texas, George a| 
ported a number of animal deaths over a period of several 
tims - including a Palomino colt, a cat and several chickel 
variously killed, cut open and disemboweled. The Myatts di 
of the deaths until late July, when they discovered a deep 
dog's neck. The date of the cat's death was not cited, but 
Sheriff Jack Driscoll reported that his deputies said the 
ed by an animal. "It definitely had not been mutilated or 
Driscoll. Apparent teeth marks were found on the cat's nec 
not belong to the Myatt's, but it was found near their bac 
MAN DEMOCRAT reported: 


The investigation further shewed that the chickens were probably 
surener heat, the sheriff said. The dog's injury was actually onlV 
missing hair, he added. As for; the dead horse, Myatt said it disa] 
the farm the same day in June that he discovered it lying di 
field. Myatt said a second colt also disappeared soon after it 
Myatts.. .maintain the animals weren't killed by other animals 
reported sane of the incidents to authorities. "It's all very s 
said. Mrs. Myatt said the night the dog was injured, she heard s\ 
chanting near a bam behind their hone and saw lights on around 


Lsemb^we 


WalS 


and 


t - tube-shaped, 
ngen area in ex- 
s for the "Big 
ic livestock mu- 
named Muniz saw 
next day, he 
was a connection, 
prepared to con- 
ilated calf was 
cording to a ra- 
om the calf. It 
who saw the UFO 
breakdown" inline- 
cident.(Sources: 


nd Sally Myatt re 
weeks. The vie- 
ns - had been 
dn't report any 
wound on their 
Grayson County 
cat had been kill 
gutted", said 
k. The cat did 
kddor. The SHER- 


victims of the 
a patch of 
ppeared from 
led in a 
bom. ...The 
that they have 
f Myatt 
grange music and 
die bam. The 


t: range 11 


403 





IQ 


couple said they have had problems in the past with people drinking in the bam 
and have found evidence of marijuana there. The sheriff said he knew of no cult 
activity in the county, but that his department will continue to investigate 
the Myatt's claim.{Source: SHERMAN DEMOCRAT, July 31, 1983) 

MARCH-JULY - DALLAS COUNTY 

In Southern Dallas County - at the opposite end of the county from Carroll¬ 
ton - 8 horses were sexually mutilated and killed, leading to considerable 
uproar among animal owners and widespread news coverage of the incidents. 

Police say the killers used tool handles and pipe to sexually mutilate the 
horses, inflicting internal injuries. All the killings have occurred on bright¬ 
ly moonlit nights.. .Dallas police investigator E.E. Carol said police have no 
leads in the case, "There’s just nothing we've got to go on". Investigators ini¬ 
tially believed revenge might be the motive, because the first two attacks oc¬ 
curred at a far South Dallas farm leased by two men, Carol said, "But with this 
second victim, it's just a whole new ball of wax", he said. 

In the first attack,March 30, someone killed a Belgian mare at a stable at 
7800 South R.L. Thornton Freeway. The horse was mutilated internally with a 
plastic pipe. A dog belonging to the mare's owner, Robert Robertson of Oak 
Cliff, was found beaten to death with a shovel. On the night of April 30 at the 
same stable, four quarter horse mares were killed in the same way, this time 
with a hoe and a pitchfork handle, Robertson's partner, Jack Chestnut of Red Oak, 
said the two have moved all their mares to a safer pasture. In the third incident, 
someone used straw to lure the mare and filly frcm a pasture into the Brown's 
bam at 8025 S, Hampton Road, police said. 

(Clayton) Brown, who was unable to move the severely-injured filly, said he 
spent several nights standing guard at the bam with a shotgun- "Gcming up and 
finding your mare dead in the bam and all tom up inside is pretty painful", 

Brown said. "I’ve never heard of anything like this. There’s just no purpose in 
it". Horse experts believe there must be more than one attacker but are unsure 
how they are killing the 1200-pound horses without being injured. "There’s 
somebody involved that has to know something about horses", said Tan Mclaughlin, 
a Cedar Hill veterinarian who performed autopsies on several of the mares. "I 
just don't know how they’re doing it". 

Obviously, these are not the "classic" mutilations that our investigation 
has been probing. The sexual penetration of the animals with foreign ob¬ 
jects (leading to death from internal injuries) suggests a cult, a parti¬ 
cularly deviant group of deviants. But there seemed to be no hard evidence 
suggesting cult involvement. The eighth horse-victim was found in a back 
yard in suburban Pleasant Grove on Friday, July 15th. According to veteran 
investigator Tommy Roy Blann, there were some differences in this case.Ac¬ 
cording to the owner, William Watson, puncture marks were noted near the 
jugular vein and on the chest of the Appaloosa mare. The mare had been cut 
on the vagina and hemorrhaging of blood was noted around the left eye and 
oar. For some reason, the mare was somewhat quickly disposed ot before an 
autopsy could be performed. Watson’s fence had been cut with wire cutters, 
which were left at the scene. Watson described his case at a meeting of 


404 




over 100 angry south Dallas County horse owners on July 2l\ 
to shoot first and 3sk questions later* Bill Watson* owner 
horse, fold the assemblage: 


they 


hone 


"I think they've been watching the farms before they hit. I dan f 
do it. I've got three dogs, and they didn't make a sound when 
Hie horse was only 100 feet away from the house, and we were 
anything. 

horse owners, not satisfied with the police investigat 
wards totaling $3000 for information leading to a solutio 
(Sources: DALLAS TIMES HERALD, 7-10-83 and 7-24-83; HOUST0] 
7-11-83; PARIS (TX) NEWS, 7-11-83; HOUSTON POST, 7*19-83; 
Blann, John F. Schuessler) 


t know hew they 
hit my place, 
and didn't hear 


The 


n 


ions, offered re¬ 
ef the case(s). 
CHRONICLE, 
Credit: Tommy Roy 


SEPTEMBER - HARRIS COUNTY 
Around three dozen animals - sheep and cattle - were beineh 
Spring Branch High School in West Houston by members of tb 
of America chapter at the school. The animals were being 
for contests. Over a three-week period in September, eleverji 
stabbed and mutilated. Five lambs were attacked in the fi 
URBIA-REPORTER (Houston,Texas) reported on 9-21-83; 


kept in a pen near 
e Future Farmers 
aised and groomed 
sheep were killed, 
ihst week. The SUB- 


Four of the lambs had been mutilated and left to die while a fif 
been badly beaten. "One had its throat cut, another had its ears 
one looked as if they had tried to skin it alive*', said Dave Fig 
superintendent for administration...Hie school district had no 1 
slayings. All they knew is % the slaughter was done with a knife, 
a similar incident that occurred a few years ago when a calf had 
tilated. After that incident the district installed a fence and 
a cost of $25,000.. ..Xhe animals had only arrived at the farm cn 
were attacked on Tuesday night. 


319 


Six more sheep were attacked on late Thursday, September 
30th. Four of them were replacements for some of those loi 
month* Precinct 5 constable's Lt. George Huebner stated th 
animals at the farm were unharmed. According to the HOU3TG 


sda' 


Huebner said the six sheep were mutilated between 10 p.m. Thur: 
dents left the pen, and 8 a.m* Friday, when students arrived ba< 
All the animals had stab wounds and bite marks - apparently made 
an and around their necks, the lieutenant said...in the latest 
attacker apparently scaled the pen's 7-foot fence with a dog. It 
a large dog "to cause that much damage" to the animals, Huebner 


Understandably, students were reluctant to bring more aninn 
ty.(SOURCES: SUBURBIA-REPORTER (Houston,TX), 9-21-83; HOUS 
THE TIMES (Shreveport-Bossier,LA), 10-2-85; SUNDAY TELEGRA 
10-2-83; Credit: J.M. Buehring, John Schuessler, Loren Colei 

OCTOBER 19 - FALLS COUNTY 
Milton Albright, a Marlin-area rancher, came across a year 
ing on the ground. At first, he thought it was probably the 


T1 


, 1983. Many vowed 
of the eighth 


th lamb had 
cut off and 
ari, c3eputy 
eads in the 
Figari recalled 
been found mu- 
barbed wire at 
Monday and 


or early on the 
t earlier in the 
at around 30 other 
iN POST{10-1-83): 


y, when stu- 
at the pen. 
by a large dog - 
tilation, the 
had to have been 
said. 


ok 


mu 


aIs to the facili- 
TOH POST, 10-1-83; 

M ( Port land, Maine), 
man) 


-old Hereford Xy- 
victim of some 


405 





disease* After he and a friend had dismounted from their horses, they noted 
that the tongue had been cut out* About 8 inches of the tongue had been re¬ 
moved, and it was lying about ten inches from the cow's head* The body was 
still warm, so it had not been dead long. What shocked the observers most 
was that the right eye of the cow was also lying on the ground about twelve 
inches from the head {and near the severed tongue). The eye still had the 
optic nerve attached and was in perfect shape. There was no blood on the 
ground or on the eye or tongue. Milton Albright said he has seen all types 
of dead cattle and what predators can do, but this was the strangest thing 
he had seen in all his years of ranching. He took the carcass to a veterin¬ 
arian in Chilton, Texas* The vet could find no natural causes responsible 
for the death of the cow, and was perplexed by the case. He could offer no 
explanation for the removal of the tongue and eye in that manner. (Credit: 
Tommy Roy Blann) 

OCTOBER 29 - DALLAS COUNTY 

In southeast Dallas County, a horse was found decapitated and with its geni¬ 
tals removed {it is not known whether the head remained at the scene). The 
horse's owner suspected cultist involvement, although the case differed 
from those in South Dallas County to the west.(Credit: Tommy Roy Blann) 

NOVEMBER 30 * DALLAS COUNTY 

In suburban Mesquite, southeast of Dallas, police found the remains of a cat 
and a dissected pig hanging from the walls of a boarded-up house on New- 
some Road, A partially-mutilated squirrel was found on the floor of the 
house and ostensibly satanic symbols were scrawled on the walls in red paint 
and blood - blood presumably from the mutilated animals. Painted on the out¬ 
side of the house was "666 SATAN LIVES". On the inside, figures included a 
red star along with the letters "TEVIS". P. J, Flowers, president of the 
Dallas Horseman's Association, feels it is the work of a satanic cult, since 
he observed two hooded figures walking down a road in the same area. He felt 
that law enforcement agencies were not doing all they could in such cases. 
Bill Brown, a veteran reporter with WFAA-TV in Dallas (who once filed a ser¬ 
ies of reports on livestock mutilations) told investigator Tommy Roy Blann 
about the animals found in the house. Mesquite police had informed Blann 
that only jars of dissected animal parts were found in the house, (Credit: 
Tommy Roy Blann) 

DECEMBER 31 - FREESTONE COUNTY 

Several cows have reported been mutilated in the classic manner in the area 
around Fairfield, Texas. Farmers are reluctant to talk about them, even to 
law enforcement agencies. There have been reports' of unidentified aircraft 
in the areas of some of the mutilations. One such aircraft was observed by 
Lee and Sheryl Marks, as it hovered over a field containing cattle. The ob¬ 
ject appeared to consist of two small white lights at the bottom with a lar¬ 
ger pulsating white light at a right angle at* the top. The object moved 
slowly over the field and toward the cabin in which the witnesses were stay¬ 
ing. It then back-tracked and moved up into the air, hovering over the tree 
tops. At its closest approach, they could hear what sounded like "an engine 




13 


idling off in the distance 11 * The crafts lights went out and the craft ap¬ 
parently disappeared* No visible structure could be discerned behind the 
lights * (Credit: Tommy Roy Blann) 

WASHINGTON 

APRIL 1 - SNOHOMISH COUNTY 

(Have to beware of reports on that date) - Law enforcement officers in Sno¬ 
homish County, north of Seattle, reportedly investigated a case involving 
a missing horse* No details* (Credit: Linda Williford) 

APRIL 6 - PIERCE COUNTY 

Pierce County, of which Tacoma is the seat, has been the site of between 2 
and 3-dozen horse mutilations over the past decade - prompting not only 
much concern on the part of horse owners and other citizens, but rare na¬ 
tional news exposure on the ABC-TV Evening News in early 1985, In April, 
1983, the EVERETT (WA) HERALD reported the following: 

The skinned head of a horse found hanging in an abandoned building may have 
been left there by a group of teen-age Satan worshippers, a Pierce County 
sheriff's deputy said. The horse's head was found Wednesday (4-6-83) by a 
contractor who was inspecting the building near Sumner, about 10 miles east 
of Tacoma, to make a bid on a county contract to demolish the aging struc¬ 
ture. The head was suspended upside-down by baling wire from the ceiling of 
a third-floor rocm. Sheriff's deputy Michael Reed, who is investigating the 
case, said deputies believe the horse probably died from natural causes or 
was obtained from a rendering plant or butcher shop... .There was no blood in 
or around the building and no other body parts were found, Reed said. Depu¬ 
ties were concerned that the horse's head might have been related to a ser¬ 
ies of horse mutilations over the past several years in the county.*.Reed 
said he believed they were unrelated to the current case* The eyes, brain 
and flesh of the horse’s head were intact, although the head had been skinned. 

It apparently had been dead about a month. Slogans were scrawled across the 
walls in red paint - 11 666" and other references to the devil, "Anti-Christ 
Demon Crusader", and other names of some rock groups that have taken on oc¬ 
cult meanings...A small group of teens meet (in the house) regularly for 
satanic worship, the deputy said. 

A number of similarities surfaced among events in Pierce County,Washington 
and Dallas County, Texas (though the "m.o." in the horse mutes differ some¬ 
what). We assume that authorities in both locales have traded notes, as it 
were. (Source: EVERETT HERALD, 4-10-83; Credit: Ed Austin) 

MID-JUNE - PEND OREILLE COUNTY 

In this county in the extreme northeastern corner of Washington, a steer 
belonging to a man named Boyd Graham was reportedly mutilated. No details, 
except that the steer was supposedly still alive when discovered, (Source:*’ 
NEWPORT (WA) MINER, 7-7-83; Credit: P.Guttilla via L. Farish/UFONS) 


407 





COLORADO 


1984 


APRIL 11 r MORGAN COUNTY 

Near sundown, rancher Kenneth Knight found the carcass of a three-year-old 
pregnant cow in a pasture behind his farm house near Brush, Colorado, The 
cow was lying on her side in the dry grassy pasture near a watery draw* The 
cow had apparently given birth shortly before it died; the calf was found a- 
live and unmarked, laying about 150 yards from its mother's carcass* The 
calf later died; it is not known just why. The head and front part of the 
dead cow was untouched, except for a-small hole in the neck, A press report 
indicates that officials suspected an injection. The cow's udder had been 
removed, leaving a smooth, even-edged wound. The tissue across the cut was 
white; there was no evidence of bleeding* The vagina and anus were removed 
leaving a six-inch-wide, deep hole. When the cow was turned over, entrails 
spilled out of the opening* A veterinarian looked at the cow but had no ex¬ 
planation for what had happened. The animal lay undisturbed by scavengers 
for two days, before being picked up by a removal service. This was Knight's 
first mutilation* About 2 or 3 years previously, a neighbor, a woman, was 
scared out of her ranchhouse by a high frequency sound. She left the house 
and drove to town to escape it. When she later returned, she reported find¬ 
ing a mutilated cow in her corral, according to Knight * (Source: THE DENVER 
POST, 4-1 3-84; Credit: Linda Moulton Howe{interview with Knight)) 

OCTOBER 22 - LAS ANIMAS COUNTY 

The citizenry of Trinidad and expansive Las Animas County in Southern Colo¬ 
rado are no strangers to mutilation reports and the peripheral phenomena 
which sometime "go with the territory 11 . Lou Girodo, the chief investigator 
for the district attorney's office in Trinidad, not only has pondered the 
mutilation mystery close-afc-hand for the past decade, but he grew up on a 
ranch, as well. Girodo has gained a reputation for commenting on the mutila¬ 
tion problem in a forthright manner, as viewers of "A Strange Harvest" can 
attest. Girodo told THE DENVER POST in March 1985 that "most city folks 
think we are kind of crazy when we talk about spaceships in relation to cat¬ 
tle mutilations." He added: "I'm not saying it is (spaceships), but you 
prove to me it isn't* There is something out there". POST reporter KitMini- 
clier's coverage in March 1985 was prompted by revelations regarding a cat¬ 
tle mutilation case that had occurred in Las Animas County back in October 
of 1984* Project Stigma has obtained a copy of investigator Girodo 1 s* report 
on the case. The rancher involved is named Myron Scott, who ranches in the / 
plains country east of Interstate Highway 25 and north of Trinida^* The vic¬ 
tim was an 800-lb. yearling Hereford steer, Girodo's report is reproduced as 
follows: 

On Friday, October 19, 1984 at approx* 2:00 PM, Myron Scott released several 
head of cattle into a pasture north of Trinidad and east of 1-25. Thit same 
evening at approx- 8:50 PM, Myron Scott was feeding his horses when he noticed 
two white, bright pulsating lights hovering about 100 feet above the ground. 

The lights appeared to be 4 feet fron each other at the same height and were 


408 






pulsating simultaneously, Myron knocked on the kitchen window and called his wife, 
Kathie’s, attention to them. For approx. 15 minutes, while Myron was feeding his 
horses, the lights remained in the same position ard area. When Myron finished 
{with) his horses, he went into his mobile home and the lights were still there, 
fie described then as airplane lights that didn't move. He also stated that there 
was no sound. It was a clear, calm night, 40°, scattered clouds, winds at 03 knots, 
northeasterly. The moon was in its last quarter. 

At approx, the same date and time, Myron's mother, who resides approx. 1 mile 
north of Myron, heard her dogs barking, The dogs usually bark when coyotes howl. 
She turned her outside yard lights on but did not hear or see a coyote. She 
turned the lights off, but the dogs continued to hark for approx. 15 minutes. 

She thought this to be unusual. 

On Monday, October 22, 1984, at approx, 4:00 PM, Myron Scott was on horseback 
attempting to gather seme of the cattle which he intended to ship to la Junta 
for sale on Tues., October 23, 1984. He stated that he could not get near the 
animals due to the fact that they were too spooky. Several horses are kept in 
the same pasture and run up to Myron when he is in the pasture. On this partic¬ 
ular day the horses broke and ran from him. Myron felt this behavior on the 
part of the cattle and horses was very unusual. 

On Monday, October 22, 1984, at approx, 7:25 PM, Myron Scott called the Las 
Animas County Sheriff's Office and requested that a deputy ccme out to his 
ranch the next morning and take a look at a dead animal. He stated to Deputy 
Bob Mooney that he had a mutilated steer - that he had never seen anything like 
it before , The left jaw had been peeled and cleaned free of hide and meat to 
the bone & the tongue had been cut out. The hide had been rolled, like a news¬ 
paper, from the rear of the animal almost up to the shoulders. Scott had to un¬ 
roll the hide to check the brand on it. Scott brands his stock on the left hip. 
After doing this, Myron Scott found that the steer had his brand on it, Scott 
also discovered that the stomach, genitals and intestines were missing. 

On Tues., October 23, 1984, this investigator and Dep. Carl Veltri of the L.A. 
C.S.O. drove out to the Scott place but no one was around so we drove to the 
Glenn Scott ranch. Mr . Scott advised us that his son, Myron, had to take care of 
some cattle and he had no idea when Myron would return. Glenn Scott had not been 
out to the pasture to see the dead steer, but he gave us directions to the steer's 
location. He requested that we stop at the ranch house on our way out and talk 
with him about our findings. 

Dep,Veltri and this investigator then drove into the pasture, attempting to lo¬ 
cate the dead steer. As we drove through the pasture, several head of horses 
and cattle broke and ran from our vehicle at a galloping pace. This seemed un¬ 
usual to us due to the fact that Myron Scott told us that when he drove through 
the pasture in his pickup, the animals, both cattle and horses, would run to¬ 
wards the pickup, thinking that he was going to spread feed for than. 

After searching the pasture for approx, an hour, we located the dead animal ly¬ 
ing on the side of a small hill. The carcass was lying on the northwest side of 
tiie hill with the head pointing in an easterly direction and the legs pointing 
in a northerly direction. 


409 





Dep. Veltri parked his vehicle on top of the hill, south and approx. 50 ft. from 
the carcass. We then checked the inmediate area for any possible human footprints 
and/or vehicle tracks. The only thing we found were horse tracks and one set of 
human tracks* These v«re made by Myron Scott and the horse he was riding the day 
before. We also noticed coyote tracks which circled the carcass at approx. 20 ft. 
away* Rone of the tracks approached the carcass* This investigator then checked 
the area around the carcass and the carcass itself with a geiger counter. The 
readings were normal except for the immediate area of the head of the dead ani¬ 
mal where a slight reading was registered on the meter and a slight response on 
the earpiece of the geiger counter. 

The animal was laying on its right side. The hide had been peeled away from the 
left jaw and all the muscle was gone. The-jawbone was completely void of hair, 
hide or tissue. The left horn was broken loose but not completely off. A patch 
of hide, approx, six inches in circumference and located about midway between 
the horns and behind them, had' the hair worn away. An area approx. 20" in dia¬ 
meter and oval-shaped located on the hack of the animal, above the shoulders, 
had the hair rubbed off. The hind quarters had been stripped of flesh and the 
hide was laying loosely over the skeletal remains. Myron Scott had stated that 
when he found the steer it was in a similar condition except the hide, starting 
at the rump, had been neatly rolled, like a newspaper, all the way up to the 
shoulders. An intermittent trail of blood led from the head of the steer for 
approx, 15 ft. in a southerly direction. There was no indication in the area 
that the animal had stumbled before coming to rest* Nor was there any indica¬ 
tion that the animal had struggled. 

After thoroughly checking the area again ard taking several pictures, Dep. Veltri 
and this investigator left the scene. We drove to the Glenn Scott ranch where we 
met Myron Scott. At this time Myron advised us of dates and times concerning the 
steer. It was then when he also advised us of the lights* 

At approx. 3:00 PM the same day I personally contacted Dr. Aaroe, DVM at his of¬ 
fice. I advised him of the situation concerning the dead steer and asked if he 
would be interested in going out to the Scott ranch to look at the animal. On 
Wednesday, Oct. 24 at approx. 11:00 AM, this investigator, along with deputies 

Bob Aguilar and Bill Musselwhite of the L.A.C.S.O. picked up Dr. Aaroe at his 

office and drove to the Glenn Scott ranch. We drove to the site of the dead ani¬ 
mal, Dep. Aguilar drove up to approx, 20 feet from the carcass. We all got out 
of the vehicle and I pointed out to the three men what I had viewed the previous 
day. Dr. Aaroe then began his examination of the dead animal. He first checked 
the head and neck of the animal. He then checked the rest of the carcass. He then 
turned the animal onto its back. He pointed out that both horns were loose but 

not broken off. He also pointed out the worn spot located behind the horns. He 

stated that it appeared as though a rope or something similar had been placed a- 
round the steer’s horns, and that the loose horns and the rub mark would indi¬ 
cate that the anixral had been dragged. After further examination, the doctor 
stated that several bones in the pelvic area tad been broken. It also appeared 
that the neck and shoulders had been broken. I asked the doctor what could have 
caused these broken bones. He replied that it appeared that someone had beaten 
the animal with a large sledge hanmer. I then asked if it were possible that a 


410 




17 

rope or similar apparatus could have been placed around the animal's horns and 
that the animal oould have been lifted into the air. The doctor replied - Yes! 

This oould have caused the rub spot and the loose horns. 

Both the left and right sides of the animal were carefully examined by all of 
us* Neither side showed any evidence that the animal had been dragged. The face, 
nose and mouth were also carefully examined* None of the areas showed any evi¬ 
dence of the animal being dragged, such as dirt, rocks and/or plant growth. The 
front legs and hooves were examined and there was no evidence in these areas 
that the animal had been dragged, such as scratch marks on the hooves or wear 
marks on the legs. 

We then began a spiral search of the area , beginning at the rear of the animal. 

We worked our way in a counter-clockwise movement at approx* 3-foot intervals. 

We worked this search method to approx. 50 feet from the animal. Nowhere within 
this complete area was there any evidence of anything being dragged to or from 
the area where the dead steer lay. 

Approx. 15 feet south of the carcass, where the intermittent blood trail began, 
the ground appeared as though something had layed in the area. The earth was 
pressed down and plant growth had been pressed into the topsoil. 

Taking all of the evidence into consideration, it was unanimously concluded 
that the animal had not been dragged to the spot where it lay but that it had 
been dropped there from a considerable height* 

Investigator Girodo believes that other mutilations have occurred and have 
gone unreported because the ranchers who are victimized do not want to be 
laughed at. And, he told THE DENVER POST, M In other perfect* crimes, there 
is always a boy walking his dog, or a little old lady who provides the clue. 
That hasn't happened here' 1 . Also, Girodo was one of the earliest to ask pub¬ 
licly if it is conceivable that a mere human organization could have car¬ 
ried out what has apparently amounted to thousands of livestock mutilations 
with virtually total impunity, without making a careless mistake, without 
being captured or caught-in-the-act* (Sources: THE DENVER POST, 3-4-85; Lou 
Girodo,investigative report; Credit for both: David Perkins, Animal Mutila¬ 
tion Probe; Farisita, Colorado) 

MASSACHUSETTS 

MARCH - WORCESTER COUNTY 

At least 3 dogs - all German shepherds or part German shepherds - were dis¬ 
covered near the southern Massachusetts town of Dudley or in the French Ri¬ 
ver. Five of the dogs were found on one weekend in mid-March. No details 
were offered regarding the type of "mutilation". A reward fund was estab¬ 
lished after the "bizarre series” of dog killings.(Source:USA TODAY, 3-19-84) 

MISSOURI 

AUGUST - FRANKLIN COUNTY 

Talk among Franklin County farmers was of the mutilation of a cow 4 to 5 



411 





ns 


miles northwest of the town of Stanton, in about mid-August. The death of 
the cow, which was missing its udder and "lips", was apparently not repor¬ 
ted officially. Area farmers say that 3 to 4 similar mutilations have oc¬ 
curred in the region over the last "couple of years". [Source:Hank Blair) 

MONTANA 

NOVEMBER 23 - CASCADE COUNTY 

Cascade County - the site of some of the most publicized mutilation activi¬ 
ty in the 1970 f s, along with mystery helicopters, Bigfoot-type creatures, 
and the UFOs reported over missile sites in the area. On the day after 
Thanksgiving, 1984, feedlot owner John Eustance found the remains of a 
450-pound steer calf, Eustance had had two other bulls mutilated similarly 
in years past. 

This time, Eustance said an ear had been cut off the skull with a neat round 
hole, both upper and lower lips were removed, the rectum was cut off with a 
round hole, and the calf's male organs were removed. He said the cuts were 
clean and appeared to have been made by a sharp knife. Eustance said there was 
no blood around the animal and that he could not figure out how it had been 
killed. He theorized that it may have been tranquilized. 

The Cascade County Sheriff's office is investigating the incident. Sheriff 
Glenn Osborne said there is no reason to suspect the calf's death was any¬ 
thing other than normal. He said there were quite a number of similar inci¬ 
dents about 10 years ago when seme cattle were killed and mutilated. Osborne 
said the department never determined what caused those deaths. 

But this time, Osborne said there was a possibility that the calf died a nat¬ 
ural death and seme predators may have chewed the soft parts off the body. He 
said there is no cause for alarm - yet. "If we start getting a series of them 
again, we'll react to them and try to determine what the heck’s doing them 11 , 
he said. (Source: GREAT FALLS TRIBUNE, 12-3-84;Credit: James R. Leming) 

NEBRASKA 

JULY 19 - MADISON COUNTY 

On July 18, at about 3:00 PM, cattle were put into a pasture a mile off US 
Highway 81 near the town of Madison. Around noon on the 19th, the owner dis¬ 
covered the carcass of a 600-pound steer calf. A 4-to-5-inch-diameter cir¬ 
cular patch of hide was missing around the navel; flesh underneath was not 
touched. The penis had been removed "from quite a way inside". On the head, 
swelling was noted just behind the cheeks. The examining veterinarian found 
the swelling to be from hemorrhaging from a blow to the head with something 
like a sledgehammer - a 2x4 would not have done it. The owner figured the 
calf had not been dead more than twelve hours when discovered. He wondered 
how anyone had gotten close enough to the calf to have struck the skull¬ 
crushing blow. The animal was not tame and was in fact somewhat "spooky". 
(Source: Carol Werkmeister; Study on Animal Mutilations; Madison, Nebraska) 


412 






NEW MEXICO 

For the first time since 1975, there was no known livestoe 
reported in New Mexico (that was not to be the case in 198 
that coyotes, buzzards and their cronies took the year ofi 
tried going vegetarian in 1984. 

NORTH DAKOTA 


SECOND QUARTER, APRIL-JUNE - WARD COUNTY 
On Wednesday, June 13, a man in Ward County, about 15 mile: 
Minot, was checking his herd when he found the carcass of 
There was no obvious sign of death and no marks on the ani 
the left ear having been cut off* The Ward County Sheriff, 
revealed that, since April, two other calves had been foum 
ear sliced off. Anderson said: "Xt f s really a strange casst 
idea that they were dead, and there were no bullet holes, 
off clean". On Friday, June 15, a Minot man found his regi 
ter horse dead in a pasture, with a slip-knotted rope arou 
was no known or obvious connection, however, between the 
calf-ear-slicings. (Sources: MINOT DAILY NEWS, 6-14-84, 6 
TAIN NEWS, 6-16-84; Credit: Linda Moulton Howe) 

OHIO 


s southwest of 
a Hereford calf. 
i|mal, except for 
Arthur Anderson, 
d dead when one 
It's just the 
just the ears cut 
i[stered filly quar- 
nd its neck. There 
,orse death and the 
16-84; ROCKY MQUN- 


DECEMBER - UNION COUNTY 
A series of animal slayings were under investigation by tH 
and the local humane society in the town of Marysville, ju 
Columbus metropolitan area. Included in the killings were 
which the carcasses were found neatly stacked. The victims: 
32 dogs and cats and 76 chickens as of mid-December 1984. 
from the Union County area in 1985.(Source: USA TODAY, 12 


OKLAHOMA 

JUNE - BRYAN COUNTY 
Authorities announced that they were investigating two ca^ 
and that one of the animals was apparently mutilated. On 
near the community of Platter, in south-central Oklahoma, 
$1000 had been shot, but no mutilation of the carcass was 
Bryan County sheriff’s office announced that a cow had bei 
June 9, near Cobb, north of the county seat of Durant. The 
James DaVauit, was reported as "shot and partially cut up 
other body parts removed unnaturally. The sheriff’s offic^ 
animal had been shot in the eye. However, owner DaVauit 
that the eyes were both intact, that there was no evidenc4 
shot in the eye.(Sources: DAILY OKLAHOMAN{Okla.City),6-26 


19 


k mutilation case 
5). Could it be 
? Or maybe they 


e sheriff's office 
st northwest of the 
2 mass slayings in 
included more than 
More would be heard 
19-84) 


es of slain cattle, 
Thursday, June 21, 
a cow valued at 
reported. But the 
n killed on Sat., 
cow, belonging to 
with an ear and 
reported that the 
Id Project Stigma 
of it having been 
84: James DaVauit) 


413 










OREGON 

JUNE 24 - UNION COUNTY 
In northeastern Oregon, an area prone to mutilation reports 
a 3-month-old calf was found about halfway between Baker an 
animal’s carcass was found early on Sunday morning, the 24t 
found it and notified the owner, Vivian Crook- Reporter Mel 
La Grande OBSERVER wrote: 

Dennis Patterson, who manages Crook's ranch west of Interstate 84, 
able to follow up cn the report until about 2 p.m. What he found 
still has him baffled- The 300-pound beefmaster cross was in the 
550-acre pasture with about 100 mother /calf pairs. The dead animal 
ing with all four legs tucked under it. There was no indication of: 
but sex organs had been removed with precision and the tail was mi. 


in years past, 
d La Grande. The 
h. A neighbor 
Coulter of the 


wasn't 
t the scene 
iddle of a 
was rest- 
how it died, 
ssing. 


mu 


when 


M I think it was a heavy drug of sane kind", speculated the ranch 
the cause of death. He found no signs of a wound or bullet hole 
ined the carcass- And there was no blood, either on the ground or 
calf, leading him to believe the blood had been drained before th^ 
slaughtered- The removal of the sex organs is puzzling, he said, 
made with surgical precision using an extremely sharp instrument 
they took it (the organs! out with, was pretty sharp. The cuts weih 
clean”. No wild animals could have made cuts like that, he insist^ 
no vehicle tracks or footprints in the area, The easiest access 
by walking 2^ miles from Wolf Creek Reservoir. The pasture is sunh 
barbed wire fence, which apparently was not damaged. A double-iodp 
the upper end of the property also appeared to be intact. 

Bob Lund, a game enforcement officer for the Oregon State Police, 
the incident and took hair samples for analysis by the state crim^ 
He was unable to determine the cause of death but said the cuts 
for a wild animal. 


and 


Patterson also is puzzled about the reactions of other animals to 
calf. Normally, the mother ccw will stay close to her offspring 
will investigate it out of curiosity. But Patterson reported all 
are keeping their distance. Predatory birds or coyotes will usual}: 
ing on the carcass within a short time. But that hasn’t happened 
ported. 


Vivian Crook, who had owned the ranch for about four years, 
of her dogs had been barking shortly before dawn on Sunday, 
wrote an accompanying article in which Union County cases 
were recalled: 


one 


Ronnie Pratt, who operates a ranch at the base of Shaw Mountain, 
of la Grande, reported two animals killed and Gerald IXdek lost 
circumstances similar to the one last weekend. Ronnie's wife Carol 
first incident occurred about eight years ago when a mature Angus 
on their ranch. Someone apparently removed the udder and reproduc^ 
frem the ccw. The Pratt’s oow was found in a large field on its 


npanager about 
he exam- 
still in the 
calf was 
(puts were 
"Whatever 
e extremely 
There were 
the area is 
■curded by 
ed gate on 


investigated 
laboratory, 
too neat 


were 


the dead 
other cows 
the cattle 
y start feed- 
iither, he re¬ 


reported that one 
Reporter Coulter 
rom years past 


16 miles south 
animal under 
said the 
cow was killed 
ive organs 
ck with the 


414 






feet straight in the air, There was no blood, and organs apparerjii 
moved with a surgeon's skill, said Carol Pratt, As with the (Pa 
calf, other cattle in the pasture refused to go near the Pratt 1 
She guesses the animal may have been tranquillized and then rol^ 
back and suffocated. When cows lie on their backs, organs press 
diaphragm causing suffocation, That leaves no trace of slaughteih 


tly were re- 
tj-terson/Crook) 
dead cow, 
ed onto its 
against the 
ing, shesaid- 


Reports of cattle mutilation aren't uncommon, insists La Grande 
Mace Schram. He has investigated many suspicious deaths and fourjkd 
of mutilation to be unfounded. He confirmed that Pratt's cow hacj 
and mutilated, however, "I don't know what really caused it-,.I 
loss 1 ', he said. Schram said he knows of no predatory animals th^i' 
reproductive organs. And he knows of no corrcrtercial value or spec; 
might have for humans. 


Pratt insists there are many mutilations that are not reported 
is a tendency for disbelief. If a rancher reports a mutilation 
are he'll never report another one because nothing is ever done 
(Sources: TlIE OBSERVER (La Grande,0R) ,6-30-84; TTtE DEVDCRAT-HERAjLD 
7-2-84; TOE OREX30MIAN (Portland), 6-26-84; Credit: Donald Boates 


1 because there 
epnee, chances 
she said. 
(Baker,OR), 


NOVEMBER « BAKER COUNTY 

Baker County is located just south and east of La Grande 
northeastern Oregon. In November another Baker newspaper, 
IER, reported: 

There have been no livestock mutilations. This is th 
of Deputy sheriff Bud Newby after several incidents 
and investigation followed. Specimens from three dea 
the Sparta country and one in the valley are in the 
determine the cause of death. 


However, the presence of vultures explains the mutilp 
Deputy Newby. It happened that one of his own cows h 
down, its feet up, and died of bloat. It was still w. 
covered but when the scavenger birds were driven off 
was nearly gone, the lines as sharp as if cut by a k 
ted. This was similar to the mutilation of other ani 
under investigation. However, in those cases the lab 
have to determine the cause of death, (Source; RECOR 
Baker, OR; 11-29-84; Credit: Lucius Farish,UFO Newscl 


1984* This is the 


SOUTH DAKOTA 

There is much to report from southwestern South Dakota in 
subject of our "Special Focus" section to follow below. 

TEXAS 

FEBRUARY - GREGG COUNTY 

A mutilation account with a different twist in a county which saw several 


veterinarian 
most claims 
been killed 
m just at a 
t take just 
lal uses they 


.and Union County in 
the RECORD-COUR- 

conclusion 
were reported 
d cattle in 
Laboratory to 


tion, said 
ad gotten 
arm when dis- 
the udder 
jiife, he no¬ 
ma Is he had 
oratory will 
ID-COURIER; 
ipping Service) 


415 








mutilation and mystery helicopter reports in 1975* An 18-month-old polled 
Hereford cow was reportedly cut in half on a farm along state highway 149* 

The front half of the animal was discovered near a barn, covered with brush. 
The bottom part was found about 200 yards away in some underbrush-(Source: 
Longview, Texas MORNING JOURNAL, Feb, 28, 1984) 

NOVEMBER 27 - TAYLOR COUNTY 

On the northern outskirts of Abilene, Texas, a near-yearling calf, valued at 
$300, was found with its "birth canal sliced and its tongue and one ear cut 
cleanly off"* The animal was found by Bob Freeman, who operates the ranch 
for the owner, land developer Bailey Choate, Choate was struck by the simil¬ 
arity between this case and livestock mutilations which had occurred in the 
area several years ago. Abilene police Sgt, Roger Dickey said, "it was too 
smooth a cut* It was done with a very sharp instrument 11 . According to the 
Abilene REPORTER-NEWS: 

Choate said he is extremely puzzled. He pointed to the calf's body and said, 

''Notice there's no sign of a scuffle, no pawing of the ground. In the middle 
of the back, there's a small wound where she might have been shot with a dart 
or something" . He said the calf would not have let someone walk up near it 
"so it had to be shot with something at a distance 11 . 

"There's no blood anywhere", he said, the right ear was removed flush with 
the skull as clean as if it had been done in a butcher shop. The flesh and 
skin around the right jaw were removed several inches around the teeth in a 
symmetrical, oval shape. Inside the mouth, the tongue was also cut out cleanly. 

\ccording to Freeman, a veterinarian who looked at the carcass declared it 
irained of blood. And "the word" among ranchers was that another cattle mu¬ 
tilation had occurred near Abilene around the time of this case. {Sources: 
REPORTER-NEWS; Abilene,TX; Nov. 29, 1984; Bob Freeman) 

DECEMBER 21 - GRAYSON COUNTY 

We'll call them the Newmans - a husband and wife, both schoolteachers in Sher¬ 
man in Grayson County, in north-central Texas bordering Oklahoma and Lake Tex- 
oma. They lived in a ranch house in a rural area about 10 miles north of 
Whitesboro, Texas and about 2 miles south of Lake Texoma, They raised Ara¬ 
bian horses and they had a number of dogs on the property. One day in the 
late spring or early summer of 1982, the Newmans returned home from school 
one afternoon to find their Doberman pinscher behaving strangely or out-of- 
sorts. Examining the dog, they found an area on the side that appeared to 
have been "shaven" clean of'hair. I-n the center of the shaven area, which 
was several inches across, was a small circular hole, about one-half-inch 
deep. There was no bleeding or drainage from the holg. The dog recovered. 

Mr. around this time - and the exact date is not recalled - another event oc¬ 
curred which left the conservative, sa1t-of-the-earth Texans shaken. The New¬ 
mans were asleep one night in their rural home when Mrs. Newman, normally a 
light sleeper anyway, was awakened by a "whirring- noise". Through a window 
she could see a brilliant light which appeared to be either flashing or ro- 
■.ting* She got up from the bed but went no further, taken aback by the in¬ 
tensity of the light, without looking at the bed, she reached around behind 


416 




S3 

her to shake her husband and awaken him. Quite the antithesis of his wife, 

Mr, Newman was a "heavy 11 sleeper, Mrs. Newman turned to the bed to shake him 
again. It was then she saw that her husband was lying on his back with both 
eyes wide open. Still, she could get no response from him, even after sha- 
king him violently. After perhaps five - but no more than 10 - minutes, both 
the light and the incessant whirring sound had ceased or moved away. She 
looked again at her husband to see him turn over and seem to sleep soundly. 
This time, when she shook him, he awoke. He said that he remembered the light 
and the sound * he was aware of what was happening - but he absolutely could 
not move or speak. When the sound and light ceased, he felt suddenly very re¬ 
laxed and slipped into sleep right away. 

Then - the incident of December 21, 1984, The Newmans kept a 3-year-old Ara¬ 
bian stallion in a corral on their property- Mr- Newman was in the habit of feed¬ 
ing and checking the horse each morning before leaving for school and each 
evening after returning home. All had been well on this particular morning. 
But that evening, Mr. Newman could tell that the stallion was acting stran¬ 
gely - not going through its usual prefeeding mannerisms. He was running, 
jumping and kicking. When Newman went to feed him, instead of running to the 
trough, the horse rose up on his hind legs, pawing the air and snorting. It 
was then that Newman could see something on the horse’s chest. After the stal¬ 
lion eventually calmed down, the chest could be examined. Noted was a hair¬ 
less area, roughly circular and about 6 inches in diameter. The area had the 
appearance of having been clean-shaven, just like on the dog two years pre¬ 
viously. It did not have the appearance of hair having been rubbed off as 
the animal rubbed against something in the corral. In the center of the sha¬ 
ven area - and again much as on the Doberman pinscher - there was a round 
hole in the flesh, about 1^ inches in diameter and perhaps as much as 1 inch 
deep. The wound was virtually identical to the one on the dog (except for 
size), in that there was no bleeding or discharge from the wound. There was 
a difference, however: the hide just at the edge of the hole appeared burned 
or singed. Mr. Newman searched the corral but could find nothing upon which 
the horse might have injured itself, and there was no sign of blood or hair in 
the corral. Later, a veterinarian looked at the horse. The equine specialist 
tried to explain it as something like a "heat blister" that came to a head 
and just "popped out". But no such blister - or anything else unusual - was 
noted on the horse that morning, just a few hours previously. The stallion 
recovered from the wound and eventually resumed normal behavior. 

JOHNSON COUNTY 

Circles of stone and a howling in the woods,.-In early 1985 more news sur¬ 
faced about possible "cult" activities in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, 
this time in Johnson County, just south of Fort Worth. Johnson County is an¬ 
other area in which sporadic animal mutilations have occurred since the mid¬ 
seventies, In the town of Burleson, a Mrs. Peterson reported seeing strange 
people about and hearing "howling in the nearby woods". Other residents of 
the area have heard the "howling", A shabbily-dressed young woman approached 
Ms. Peterson’s house in October 1984. The woman had cuts on her forehead and 
under her eyes - perfectly spaced- She wanted in the house but Ms* Peterson 
refused. This and the unnerving night noises eventually prompted Ms, Peter- 


417 




son to move from the area* Though some area residents accus 
imagining things* others felt she might have legitimate com 
denominational pastor* Gloria Gillespie* said parishioners 
of cult rites in the hills near Burleson for 10 years* The 
ual mutilation of horses in the area periodically fueled th 
as can be determined* these were not "mutilations 11 in the 
that usually objects like broom handles or pipe were forcib 
through the horse genitalia* causing internal injury and de 
leson area, authorities have examined circles of stone* cro 
formed of stones and dog skeletal remains which suggested a 
August 1984 four teenagers reported being chased from the w« 
Burleson by men wearing brown robes, (Sources: DALLAS MORNI 
1985; Gary Puckett* humane official and animal rights activji 


<sd Ms.Peterson of 
plaints. A non- 
had told her tales~ 
Occassional sex- 
fires, As far 
classic" sense/*in 
Ly introduced 
<ath. In the / Bur- 
ssses and hexagrams 
ritual* And,in 
bods near south 
]tfG NEWS* Jan. 13, 
st) 


UTAH 

JULY - DUCHESNE COUNTY 
An apparently classic cattle mutilation was said to have be 
the weekend of July 28-29 about 30 miles northwest of Roose 
details were available. (Source: Mark A. Uriarte) 

VIRGINIA 


cn discovered on 
veit, Utah* No 


APRIL ~ WASHINGTON COUNTY 
The city of Bristol sits astride the Virginia-Tennessee bor 
weeks in April, 75 yellow cats were reported to have disapp* 
tol and Washington County (VA). These were only the officia 
appearances. The actual number may have been greater,sugges 
son for a local Xost-and-found animal registry service* The 
ranged from alley cats to registered Persians, some long-ha 
hair* some male, some female - but all yellow. It was specu 
cats may be headed into fur-market oblivion, where their pe 
stituted or passed off as rabbit - or perhaps they were headii 
tory for some sensitive research - but why all yellows? (Sou 
OKLAHOMAN A TIMES (Okla*City,OK), April 21, 1984) 


WASHINGTON 


OCTOBER - PIERCE COUNTY 

There was another round of,news coverage of the continuing 
in Pierce County (primarily horses* but not exclusively-see 
port). A story in the SEATTLE TIMES in October read* in part 


"They 11 have been mutilating animals in Pierce County for the last 
the big questions around here are who are "they" and why is it bei 
ocnmittee formed around horse ranchers, made up of 150 residents 
and Thurston counties* is trying to find the answers to these ques 
when the sexual mutilations started isn't know - it could have 
as 15 years ago. But everyone seems to agree that more than one 
volved. One widespread story has it that three people in black 


der- During two 
sared from Bris- 
lly-reported dis- 
ted a spokesper- 
missing felines 
ir and some short- 
lated that the 
Its might be sub- 
d for a labora- 
rce: SATURDAY 


horse mutilations 
following re¬ 


decade, and 
ng done? A 
ran Pierce 
tions. Just 
as long 
is in¬ 
robes 


been 
person 
hooded 


418 








were seen bent over a fallen horse before being chased off. 

Included in the report was the account of a couple near Spanaway who found 
their 9-ycar-old registered Arabian mare dead near their barn in September 
of 1984. The horse was "sexually abused", although the wounds, in the op¬ 
inion of a veterinarian, should not have been sufficient to have caused 
death (indeed, many of the Pierce County horses have survived the attacks 
in which all or pari of their genitals were excised)* The sheriff's office 
had logged 28 cases which they felt to be legitimate. As might be expected, 
many area horse owners believed the actual number to be 3 or 4 times that 
figure. (Sources: SEATTLE TIMES, Oct.8, 1984; Helen Foster) 

OCTOBER 24 - KING COUNTY 

The mutilated carcass of a cow was found just hours after it had given birth 
to a calf about 4 miles west of the community of Enumclaw, near the Pierce/ 
King county line. A nows report stated as follows: 

The cow, an 18-month-old Hereford, was found dead in a pasture with its rectum, 
uterus, tongue and tips of three teats missing. The throat had been slashed, the 
apparent cause of death, and all of the animal's blood had been drained from the 
wound to its throat. An investigation of the animal was made by veterinarian Bob 
Phgeset. Tn addition, incisions shaped like a half-moon were cut in the cow's 
oars and flesh on the lower jaw was cut away. Engeset said the incisions were 
made with an ext remedy sharp object by someone who had knowledge in such things. 

Similarly, the sexual mutilations of 27 horses in rural Pierce County in recent 
years were ''professionally done" by a person or persons using sharp instruments, 
said Gaylord Mattes of the Pierce County Sheriff's Department. Mattes said he 
sees no similarities between those cases and the Enumclaw attack, mainly because 
(of) the different sexes of the male horse and female cow. Mrs. Karen Phillips, 
who operates the farm, said the mutilation of her cow was like those done by 
ritualistic cults...There arc no definite suspects in the cases, said Mattes. 

He said the attack on the cow probably occurred at night, since it could have 
been seen during the day. 

Mrs. Philli[)S said she checked the pregnant animal at 4 a.m. Wednesday and it 
hadn't given birth. At 2 p.m., "It didn't cone up to eat with other ccws, so I 
went looking for it”, she said. She found it dead and mutilated, with its new¬ 
born calf at its side in a [xisture. The calf was unharmed. The cow, valued at 
about $1000 wasn't insured* "Wc might start insuring our cows flow", Mrs. Phil¬ 
lips said. She is more watchful of her snail herd that new numbers two bulls, 
two cows and two calves. "I'm keeping a loaded shotgun in the house", she said. / 
(Source: UMJMGIjAW tJXJRlER-1 (FRAUD, November 1, 1984) 


Focus On South Dakota 


BY LINDA MOULTON HOWE (Documentary filmmaker; freelance writer) 0 


Em I<J7<M<JK0 I stti-ril <J imui 

went ary Hint a hunt l he un__ _________ v . , 

liruiukiisL mi KMGH-TV (CHS), Denver, GoIerode, 


nl hs |>rmJucniHi writing, Hired in** ;md editing a 7T-ininute dot u- 
j m* 1 1 unit i lal ion mystery entitled A STRANGE 11AK VEST,The I i Ini 

Moy I98(J. Since then I hove stayed hi cun- 


419 





tact with ranchers and law enforcement about the unresolved mystery, 
ly called rfe in the spring of 1984 about the following events and I t 
Clayton Merchen and Bennett County Deputy Sheriff Toed Jensen by phone 


The Jerry Grass fami- 
alked at length with 


Cattle"mutilations and UFOs ... since the early 1970’s there have beeh 
about animals, especially cattle, cut up in bizarre ways throughout tie 
ada and other parts of the vrorld. UFOs got into the story because ranchers 
merit personnel kept seeing unexplained lights hovering over pastures 

Skeptics say there's nothing to it ... only magpies, foxes and other 
wave of mutilations and strange lights near Pine Ridge, South Dakota, 

Jerry Grass and Clayton Merchen ranches know they're not dealing with 


predators. But in a 
families at the 
simple coyotes. 


in a pasture 8 
lot of dead 


The last veek of January 1984 , 19-year-old Alfred Grass started his chores 
miles fron his family’s ranchhouse. Tending cows is his life arK % he spes a 
ones, but nothing like the one he saw that morning. 

"She was a 4-year-old black ccw, close to calvin’. I’d seen her alive 
that morning I found her lying on her left side with half her right 
across like with a razor blade. Her right eyeball was gene and on top 
had cut out a half-circle like the heel of a shoe, just the hide. Hal 
way and there was nothing left where her udder had been — only an 
like somebody had used a sharp razor. No blood anywhere and no tracks 

Similar descriptions can be read in old mutilation files at sheriff’s 
to Texas, Washington to Pennsylvania. 

Two days later, Alfred and a hired hand found another pregnant oow cu|t up pretty much like 
the first one. 


the day before. But 
cut off straight 
of her nose someone 
f her tongue was cut 
shaped smooth cut 
around her." 


ear 


oval 


Then on February 8, around 7:30 pm, the Grass' neighbors encountered 
ten Merchen, his wife Sheila and his mother Margaret, v^re cn their 
board meeting when they saw an object in the sky that showed first 
lights, then cne light "as if whatever it was, was spinning around". 
The color of the light "was like a white spotlight? it looked like 
plane". Hie lights moved to a stop, havering over a pasture. Clayton 
about ^-mile fron the object and then shut the motor off to listen. 


the lights moved rapidly av®y* Clayton and his passengers heard "a 
muffled like it was inside something. It lasted only a couple of 
hear a thing." 


between 


But at this closer range Clayton could see a small red light in 
white lights "and when the white lights turned away there was 3 or 4 
on what must have been the back of the thing". 


A week later, on the morning on February 19, Alfred Grass found a thi 
one was a pregnant 4-year-old, too, and was lying in soft moist ground 
tracks at all", he said. "It locked like she'd just been layed down 
the ocm’s right ear was cut off at the head, a "perfect circle one 
her right eye was cut away like somebody had used a cookie cutter and 
The udder had been removed in a square kind of cut and a circular pal 
cut a^y over the backbone. 


hundreds of reports 
United States, Can¬ 
ard law enforce- 


offices fron Montana 


strange lights. Clay- 
wjay to a local school 
light, then two 
said Clayton Merchen. 
landing lights an a 
drove his pickup to 
Almost simultaneously, 
whirring lew roar sound, 
seoobds. Then we couldn't 


the two bigger 
red flashing lights 


rd mutilated cow. That 
"There weren’t any 
t|here on her side," 
all the way around 
her eyeball was gone." 
of hide had been 


inch 


tch 


420 







February 27-29, the strange lights kept caning hack. On the 27th around 10 pm, Clayton was 
in a pasture near his ranch trailer house working with a large spotlight bo check for calv¬ 
ing cows, lie saw moving white lights appear off to the west. He pointed his spotlight at 
them and flashed it a few times. As soon as he did, "those lights moved real fast toward 
me. Guess they came from 3 miles out to just about jf-mile from me in a couple of seconds" 
Scared him. He took off for his house and had his wife and three kids go outside to watch 
as the lights took off and then reappeared over a nearby hill. 

Hie next night Clayton's daughter and cousin were driving home when the lights appeared 
behind, above and in front of the moving pickup. "They were scared to death and called me 
from their graiKShrather's", said Clayton. "But the lights were gone by the time I got there" 

On February 29th # David Brewer from the Pine Ridge Bureau of Indian Affairs drove out to 
the Merchen's place, curious about what was happening. From £-mile away he watched Clay- 
ton drive through a pasture and saw lights appear over a ridge. Clayton flashed his spot- 
light. "It scared the hell out of me the way that thing came toward us", said Brewer." 

"It stopped about 1000 yards away, 400-500 feet up. It moved a little unstable like a kite* 
But it looked like a light on a helicopter.” 

On March 6 f two law enforcement officers from Martin, South Dakota, follcwed up the sight¬ 
ings with a stakeout of their cwn. ”We were curious about who was going to such expense, 
especially in the awful winter cold, to make a farce with these lights* We didn’t take it 
very seriously* We stopped and got some popcorn and pop on the way out. Wish new w'd had 
a camera and binoculars." 

Clayton Merchen had told them that the lights usually appeared around 10 pn near a particu¬ 
lar dirt road. So the officers went there and parked In darkness to watch. It wasn't long 
before they noticed a bring light on the horizon. They got outside the car and watched. Hie 
light appeared to come closer and "split in two the way car lights will as they approach". 
Hie lights were white and the cne on the left was brighter - than the one on the right. In 
between was a flashing red light about half the size of the white lights. The object moved 
up parallel with their car about 100 yards away and "maybe 100 feet up. Hie strangest thing 
is that the lights shining at us did not give off any halo like car lights. It was as if 
the light was in some kind of tunnel not touching anything. The light never illuninated the 
grand, the car , us or anything. Never saw such lights and there was no samd. I was spooked" 
said the deputy. 

The object suddenly turned to the southeast and reveled four red lights "like car tail 
lights at the roar of a wide horseshoe shape, curving, and for about five seconds we could 
hoar a muffled jet whine quite unlike anything I've hoard before. Then silence again." 

Hie officers called Ellsworth Air Fbrcc Base and talked to an air controller with radar, 
lb told than there were no aircraft for 100 miles in their area* 

On March 24th and in the first week of April, the Grasses found their fourth and fifth mu¬ 
tilated pregnant cows, cut up like the others except this time the udder was there minus 
four teats* Charlene Grass said, "They was cut out clean, leaving four neat holes* We could¬ 
n't even find the milk tubes*" 

Back in August 1975 when seme Colorado sheriffs were getting two or three mutilation re¬ 
ports a day with bodies still warm to the touch, Colorado's Governor Richard lantn said: 
"These mutilations are cne of the greatest outrages in the history of the western cattle 
industry. It is no longer possible to blame predators for the mutilations." 

, lr y ■ ■ ' * ' V .*.«* 1 L ■ ■ 


421 





Theories about who, what and why have shifted back and fo:r 
to Satanic cults to government research to UFOs and extral: 
©ring a strange harvest. But so far, nothing's been proven 


One veterinarian in Wyoming who is afraid to speak pubiicf 
professional reputation will be tarnished said: 11 1 never 
anything to the mutilations until I examined one cow near 
ming). The eyeball, optic nerve and eye tissue were so th 
to clean bone that I still wonder how it was done," 

Magpies, answer some. But what are the strange, hovering Rights doing in 
those cow pastures? 


y for fear his 
Relieved there was 
Carpenter (Wyo- 
<broughly removed 


th from predators 
errestrials gath- 


END NOTES 


sccire 
clri 


presieni 


In the /Welaide,Australia area in 1984, it was claimed that the mill 
speculated link between UFO sightings and "mutilated animal carcasses; 
area. The PERTH SUNDAY TIMES <7-15-84) reported: "UFO researchers clai 
ings have been covered up by the military in a bid to quash a UFO 
incident, researchers say, a farmer discovered four cows with holes 
skulls and the brains removed. According to the reports, farmers hav^ 
quiet". Other discoveries, researchers say, include egg-shaped "pod" 
erty,,,Rocks in the pod holes were crushed, tree tops burnt and dozerji: 
nearby...Adelaide UFO researcher Mr. Collin Norris said he had been 

ter making inquiries into the sightings"-—— For both of you who 

Project Stigma might have some ocnrnent on Kagan and Simmers: Our 

review works of fiction-—-There my actually be more serious 

in France than in the U.S. A group of French scientists have been ga 
the subject for a long-term in-depth investigation and analysis of 
were not confident that a recent (May 1985) ABC-TV "20-20" story on 
elude much meaningful information on mutilations (it didn't) when thi 
report called us to ask what we knew about "animal mu tat ions". Actual]; 
port concentrated on the very real possibility that children may haw 

ritualistically slaughtered by cultists--A retired Navy and 

gency operative told us in person that he became curious about muti 
So he made seine discreet inquiries in Washington - Was there anythinjg 
all about? He was only told something to the effect that it was "for 
something with which he should not concern himself - usually suffici 

itary man to "take the hint". —-For future publication, we a; 

the mutilation or mysterious deaths of rabbits (there are quite a few 
seme most intriguing).Would appreciate any such reports from readers 
alerted to a case from the western U.S. in the mid-1970 , s wherein a 
their horse rising up through a beam of light into a hovering disc 
loft and the horse was never seen again. Hopefully,more details will 
on watch for the Long-rumorod Home Box Office UFQ documentary. Mich 
tlte can(thoj^jh they hit a snag when it came to the Rendlesham/nontwab 
some coverage of the South Dakota events outlined by Linda Howefabovo 
there will be a rebuttal to Kagnn A Stumers, though it may take a wh,L 
tat ions prevented us from using much info this issue: tlie Q3W report 
mure on my story helicopters. Ml Austin's rofort. And - already lots 


tfary was covering up a 
" found in the same 
im the bizarre kill- 
in the area. In one 
illed into their 
been warned to "keep 
marks near the prop- 
,s of birds found dead 
t^old to "drop off" af- 
have asked whether 
it policy is not to 
interest in mutilations 
tiering information on 

events-We 

Satanic cults would in- 
co-produoer of the 
y, the Tan Jarriel re- 
been kidnapped and 
rational Security Ac¬ 
tions a few years ago. 
to it? What was it 
1" and that it was 
t for a career mi]- 
compiling reports of 
seme qeustionable but 

-—we've been 

^anch couple watched 
iped object. The craft 

follow,—-—Be 

iiootage is already in 
ers case). May include 

)——- -Seriously- 

le--Space limi- 

menttoned last issue, 
goings-on in 1985. 


la 


r=al 


ei 

iro 


sliai 


we 

of 


422