It started when someone left a 120-pound cow head in a
park.
At first, investigators in Sacramento wondered if that
someone was a hunter, one who had accidentally left something behind. Then
another cow head appeared nearby not long after, followed over the next few
months by a series of gruesome packages containing dead goats, chickens, rats,
fish, lambs and even a tortoise, according to the Sacramento Bee.
In most cases, the carcasses being left around California’s
capital city are headless, but strangely blood free, aside from one instance in
which a package contained bowls of what was described as “bloody oatmeal,” the
Bee reported.
Since the first cow head was discovered in December,
authorities have logged at least a dozen instances of mutilated animals being
found around the city, often near train tracks, according to NBC affiliate
KCRA.
The killings almost always involve livestock, and never
cats and dogs, investigators say.
In March, the Humane Society offered a reward of up to
$5,000 for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the
mutilations.
“These animals were mutilated and killed for no apparent
reason and discarded as though they were trash,” the Humane Society’s Eric
Sakach said at the time. “We are hopeful that this reward will bring forward
anyone with information about these disturbing crimes.”
But more than six months after the killings began,
authorities say they still don’t know who, or what, they’re dealing with.
Gina Knepp, a spokeswoman for the Sacramento Department of
Animal Control, told Reuters that some packages have included bloody dollar
bills, oil and seeds that are known to be used in some Afro-Caribbean
religions.
And yet, she admits, investigators are stumped.
“It’s bizarre,” Knepp said. “We don’t know if it’s
religion; we don’t know if we have a sick individual in our community that
simply likes to cut the heads off animals and dump them where people can see
them.”
On Monday, the city released surveillance footage that
appears to show a woman dropping off bags that included a beheaded goat
carcass, as well as red hens, a rat and a catfish.
The woman, who struggled with the weight of the object, can
be seen getting out of a white van and dropping off the packages before getting
back into the vehicle less than a minute later and driving away.
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