Trumpet, a 35-year-old gelding, was missing from his stall before he was located in nearby Jayhawk Cemetery. The horse was pierced by a decorative iron fence and was deceased.
Investigators, determined to figure out exactly what happened to Trumpet, are trying to piece together what little information they have to date. Apparently the death of the horse occurred between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. on January 30 after Trumpet went missing out of his stall. They found no damage to his stall or any gates on the property.
The cemetery where Trumpet’s body was discovered is also gated.
Trumpet’s horse blanket was found near his body. It was intact. According to Lt. Tim Becker of the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office, “It wasn’t ripped, it wasn’t torn and the buckles that held it on were in good shape.”
Becker was puzzled about what had happened to Trumpet. The authorities did not know if Trumpet had been caught up in a torture killing or, possibly, a individual is responsible for taking the horse to the cemetery and leaving him there to fend for himself.
Several neighbors believe that Trumpet was taken out of his stall because someone had a disagreement with his owner.
Jeff Lewis who lives in proximity to the cemetery said, “It’s a helpless harmless animal, and if you have a problem with somebody, you deal with that person.”
Everyone is asking whether Trumpet was hurt deliberately and with malice or whether he was simply left at the cemetery where he hurt himself trying to get out.
Trumpet’s owner is devastated by the events. Tom O’Brien, a neighbor, said, “She’s had that horse for a long time and that was her favorite horse.”
Just recently, a small memorial was erected at the cemetery for Trumpet. A recently placed memorial at a rural cemetery may not seem unusual, but this one is for a horse.
Above three candles and cross made of flowers is a reward poster offering $5,000 for the capture and prosecution of the person, or persons, responsible for the horse’s death and “unknown brutal acts” committed against the animal.
The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office says the reward is being offered by the horse owner — who is staying anonymous because she fears retaliation.
Anyone with information about the death of Trumpet is asked to contact detective Natasha Gallagher or anyone else at the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department.
Read El Dorado County, Mountain Democrat, view video and read story on Los Angeles Times
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