WESTERN SLOPE — Investigators are working to find out if almost 200 cattle that have been reported lacking southwest of Montrose have been stolen.
The Montrose County Sheriff’s Workplace mentioned roughly 180 cattle, collectively, aren’t accounted for by a variety of ranchers. The cattle are lacking from the Uncompahgre Plateau, the place they graze through the summer time months.
“You’ll be able to all the time lose some to predators, to accidents, to toxic weeds, issues like that. However the 180 is simply way over regular,” mentioned Montrose County Sheriff Chuck Searcy. “It is laborious to imagine that there is nonetheless 180 cattle up on the plateau, as a lot snow is up there as proper now. And these ranchers who experience and do their due diligence to search out their cattle, and so they’re not discovering them. That leads us to imagine that one thing nefarious has been taking place to the cows.”
Searcy mentioned livestock theft is often minimal in Montrose County. Investigators have a big space to seek for clues — an estimated 75,000 acres, based on Searcy.
“It is a big space, and it is all public land that these cattle have been on. So to have an precise crime scene, if you’ll, we do not have one. And now a majority of that is buried in snow,” Searcy defined.
A lot of the 180 lacking cattle are calves, Searcy mentioned. He estimates the variety of lacking cattle totals to anyplace from $300,000 to $400,000.
“I estimate these calves in all probability between 500 and 700 kilos, relying on once they have been born earlier than they went onto the mountain after which got here down,” mentioned Searcy. “It is simply odd that it is simply largely calves lacking. And that is, once more, one other crimson flag for us that one thing else is occurring.”
One of many ranchers lacking cattle is Mont Snyder of Mex & Sons. Snyder is lacking 26 of his cattle.
“It has been checked out from the air, and so they’re not discovering them. I flew additionally with a superb buddy of mine, and we did not discover something,” mentioned Snyder. “We see nothing. They’re gone.”
Snyder has some theories however didn’t broaden on them at the moment. The household did present Denver7 with a picture of the model they use for cattle, in case somebody sees the lacking 26 head.
Snyder household
Anybody with details about what might have occurred to the cattle is requested to name the Montrose County dispatch at 970-249-9110.
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