Two Cattle Mutilations, Trinidad Colorado, September 2012 !
( Picture Courtesy Torres Family )
Labor Day weekend, September 2012, I investigated a bizarre animal mutilation on the Torres ranch involving a cow in Trinidad, Colorado. The animal was a young Heifer born in March of that year and was found with the udder removed, the tongue cut out and an incision around the ear. One of the most unusual anomalies was the large oval ground depression in which the animal was laying in when found. The ground depression was 22 feet in diameter and when I had soil samples analyzed comparing dirt from within the circle to outside the circle, I found that the CEC’s, Cation Exchange Capacity was lower by the animal inside the circular depression than compared to the sample taken outside the circle. The “CEC” is the degree to which soil can absorb cations or positive charged ions which also affects saturation making the soil less soluble near the animal.
This strange nutrient anomaly effecting the CEC’s, was also found in soil samples I had analyze in the Miller mutilation case of 2011, the Kansas City Missouri mutilation case of 2012, the Georgia mutilation case of 2012, and finally the Torres mutilation case of 2012.
Yes I’m starting to see a pattern!
( Picture Courtesy Sally Miller )
Two weeks after I investigated the Torres mutilation, I was contacted by rancher Miller who is also from Trinidad. He found one of his missing cows that appeared to have been mutilated around the same time the Torres’s animal was mutilated. Rancher Miller had two previous mutilations which I had investigated, one on 03/17/09 (a one week old calf) and the other on 08/06/11 ( a 5 year old Red Angus). This new mutilation he found was also a Red Angus cow about 4 years old. I was unable to roll on this mutilation due to my work schedule, but considering this mutilation was two weeks old, I knew I wouldn’t be able to take good hide samples. What I didn’t know was something else about this mutilation which was very exciting.
Jump to the weekend of March 09th, 2013.
I was travelling through Trinidad and contacted rancher Miller to discuss his last mutilation. To my surprise, he said he had just recently visited the site and the majority of the carcass was still there, and it appeared to be lying in a large ground depression; Also since decaying had set in, the rib cage was more noticeable. Upon examining the rib cage, rancher Miller was able to confirm his previous assumptions, the left side of the rib cage was crushed, as if the animal had been dropped from a great height.
Needless to say, I immediately altered my schedule and met with rancher Miller to investigate his last mutilation.
(Animal as seen on Saturday March 9th. Ground depression still visible)
When I reached the site I was surprised to see so much of the animal still there! Usually five months after an animal’s death, the carcass is generally just bones and some hide due to scavengers ripping it apart. Why was this animal’s carcass still intact?
Left side of head showing jaw incision and missing ear cored out
The head was still visible with hardly any signs of scavenger damage to the hide. Compared to Miller’s picture (shown above) which was taken within two weeks of the mutilation in September 2012, my picture amazingly still shows the jaw damage.
The eyes, unless they were cored out due to the mutilation, are generally eaten by birds within the first 8 hours of death. The hide is usually pulled and ripped apart by scavengers within 30 days, so why is this carcass still here?
Left leg showing cored out dewclaw.
This is the first investigation in which the dewclaw had been removed from two separate legs. There is absolutely no explanation for this and no nutritional value for scavengers.
Left side of rib cage from head view, showing crushed ribs.
Generally over a period of time the cartilage in the ribs will break down and the ribs just fall out, but these ribs were broken. Compound Fractures! The right side of the rib cage which was laying in the dirt, was what you would expect for the age of the carcass, some pulled from the cartilage but not crushed like the left side. Also the right side of the rib cage as well as the right side of the animal was hammered into the ground like a meteor impact.
This animal did not simply fall over and die because of natural causes, it was dropped after it was killed!
Animal Statistics:
Breed: Red Angus, female.
Age: 4-5 years old.
Weight: est. 800 to 900 pounds.
Length: est. 8 feet from nose to hind area.
Gurth: est. 8 feet around.
Investigative Notes:
Rancher saw no signs of predator damage or cause when he originally found the carcass.
Rancher saw no signs of human intervention when originally found.
Rancher saw no signs of blood pooling in or around the animal when originally found.
Rancher noticed the animal had been slammed down into the dirt, suspected internal injuries.
Rancher noticed legs were broken and twisted as if thrown to the ground.
My Investigation:
Radiation check on ground and animal: None detected.
EMF (Electro-Magnetic-Field) detection: 8-10 micro-teslas at carcass.
EMF (Electro-Magnetic-Field) detection: 25-30 micro-tesla spike within ground depression sweep.
Magnetic Sweep: No metallic’s detected on or near animal carcass.
Animal was pointing head first at 300 degrees per compass reading.
No unusual compass fluctuation around or near animal.
Animal was lying in a 15-16 foot diameter ground depression, soil samples were taken inside the circle and 20 feet outside the circle. Analysis pending.
Left side damage as seen originally by rancher:
Long oval incision-type wound around left side jaw 10 inches in length.
Oval wound where left ear used to be.
Left horn completely broken off.
Oval hole between front left foreleg. Similar to his last mutilation.
Oval hole at location of udder.
Oval hole near anal area.
Ribs on left side were broken as if dropped from a great height.
Missing dewclaw front left and rear right leg.
Rear legs twisted and broken at their joints as if dropped.
Summary analysis:
I wish I was able to investigate this animal last year when rancher Miller found it, but was very pleased to see the site and see what was still there. You ask any veterinarian what a carcass would look like after 5 months after death, and they’ll say not much left. Why was this animal still intact? And why was the animal laying in a round ground depression just like my previous cases? Was the ground depression caused by the energy source responsible for holding the animal then dropping it? Was the ground depression caused by an energy source responsible for propulsion? Or is the ground depression the cause of some other anomaly not considered yet?
Either way, I’m getting closer and closer to understanding the who, what and why, with every mutilation I investigate, every rancher I interview, and every sample I have analyzed. One way or another, with the help of the rancher’s, with the help from law enforcement agencies, and with the help from readers like yourself, I will eventually blow the lid off this animal cruelty crime!
Stay Tuned… and as always, your comments are welcomed.
Category: Cattle Mutilations, Investigations
