Still no breaks in cattle theft case

Nearly two weeks after the incident, Marion County Sheriff Robert Craft said there’s nothing new to report on the eight head of cattle sto­len from Cody Schafer’s property near Durham.

Craft said his office and the Kansas Attorney General’s office have no intention of sitting idly by with­out exhausting all possible leads.

“The case is being investigated by this office and Kendal Lothman, livestock investigator of the AG’s office,” Craft said.

“We have a couple of vehicles we are interested in finding, and (Lothman) is helping us to see if those vehicles show up at any of his places of interest.

“Butler County is also observing some areas for us, but they also have nothing yet.”

The theft was first reported to the sheriff’s office at about 10 a.m. Aug. 4 with Undersheriff Dave Huntley responding to the call.

According to Craft, the caller said a padlock was cut on a gate along the northwest side of the pasture at 280th and Diamond.

“Once in the pasture, unknown suspect(s) removed eight head of cattle,” Craft said.

The incident involved one or more individuals entering a locked gate the same morning the cattle were taken from the pasture, Craft said.

The cattle are described as black, red or Charolais-cross, weighing 850 to 900 pounds each with a yellow tag in their left ear.

Craft said each of the animals is valued at more than $10,000.

Another way Marion County and the AG’s office continue working together, Craft said, is by keeping a close eye on places cattle are housed.

“Lothman has instant elec­tro­nic access to state and regional livestock sale barns and feed lots.” Craft said.

“We place a description and circumstances along with any possible suspect on the report, and it is sent electronically to them all so they can be watchful if they show up at either one of those locations,” he said.

Craft said it gets even more difficult if the cattle are taken too far from Kan­sas, citing Mexico as one example.

“The livestock investigators from this region of the U.S. have a communications network as well,” Craft said.

“They communicate regularly and notify each other of things like this, and they have been made aware of these cattle and are watching.”

Anyone with information concerning this or any other theft is asked to contact the Marion County sheriff’s office at 620-382-2144 or the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at 1-800-572-7463.

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