The Neosho County Sheriff’s Office is currently investigating a November 7 cattle theft believed to be connected to four others, including one in Crawford County.
The theft of 25 head of cattle from the McCune area was reported Aug. 31, 2017. The Crawford County Sheriff’s Office is still investigating the theft, as well as working with NCSO and other agencies to share information.
“With all the recent thefts taking place in close proximity, it is easy to assume they are related,” Crawford County Sheriff Dan Peak said.
Following the Aug. 31, 2017 theft near McCune, a theft of 13 head of cattle was reported on October 4 northwest of Parsons.
On Nov. 7. 2017, 12 head were reported stolen six miles north of Parsons. The owner of those cattle is offering a $5,000 reward to the first person with information leading to the identification of the perpetrators.
A witness also reported seeing a man run out of a cattle pasture near a corral, get into the back seat of a four-door truck and flee the area south of Kansas Highway 47 near the Neosho/Crawford County line on Dec. 2, 2017.
The theft of nine head of red angus cattle was reported to the Labette County Sheriff’s Office Dec. 18, 2017.
Peak said the agencies are sharing information when it becomes available, as well as working with an investigator from the Kansas Livestock/Brand Unit, which was created as a joint effort of the Kansas Department of Agriculture and Kansas Attorney General’s Office in 2014.
“We share a lot of information between the agencies,” Peak said. “It’s been tough trying to get detailed information on suspects, but we are doing our best to piece it together.”
Peak said livestock thefts offer unique challenges to investigators. The thefts often happen in remote areas, and it is hard to know exactly what time the livestock went missing.
Anyone with information about any of the thefts is encouraged to contact their nearest law enforcement agency.
Cattle taken during the Nov. 7 theft in Neosho County included 11 black heifers branded with a three and backwards “G” on their left hip. A black bull was also taken. The bull had an “XX” branded on his left hip.
— Chance Hoener is a staff writer for the Morning Sun. He can be emailed at choener@morningsun.net or follow him on Twitter @ReporterChance.