The BulleTin • Sunday, april 18, 2021 A9
Cattle
Continued from A1
“We’ve had cases like this
over the years,” Gautney said.
“They seem to come in groups
and then go away. We are not
speculating on how these are
happening, as we try to keep
an open mind and look at all
possibilities.”
Mutilated cattle have been
reported in the American West
since at least the 1960s. There
have been multiple recent cases
of bull mutilations in Harney,
Wheeler and Umatilla counties
in Eastern Oregon. But now,
beef cattle have turned up dead
in the remote ranchlands out-
side Prineville bearing signs
common to the cattle mutila-
tion phenomenon.
The current string of cases
began Feb. 27, when Crook
County Sheriff’s Office dep-
uty Scott Durr was dispatched
to suspicious circumstances at
the 96 Ranch on SE Van Lake
Road. Owner Rickey Shannon
said one of his herd had been
discovered dead two days ear-
lier with an odd cut down its
spine.
Shannon, who lives on the
ranch with his two sons, re-
ported no predators or birds
had touched the cow. There
were no tracks, and no blood
surrounding it. The cow’s left
cheek, tongue and three of its
teats had been cut away cleanly.
But the eyes, usually the first
body part to be scavenged after
death, were untouched. There
were no bullet holes and a scan
of the cow by a metal detector
turned up none.
The cow was about 200
yards from the road, near the
edge of a field and some juni-
per trees. There were no vehi-
cle tracks near the dead animal,
no footprints of any kind.
The mystery deepened a few
days later. On March 4, Casey
Thomas, manager of the GI
Ranch on Lister Road in Pau-
lina, reported that one of his
herd of around 5,000 appeared
to have suffered a strange
death.
Crook County detective
Javier Sanchez arrived to find
a deceased Black Angus cow
lying on its side. Hair had been
removed near the stomach. All
four udders were cut off and
its left cheek, tongue and sex
organs removed. Between the
front legs an uneven patch of
hair was missing and in the
middle was a prick mark, San-
chez wrote in his report.
The next day, Crook Coun-
ty’s Sgt. Timothy Durheim was
dispatched to a report of a wolf
kill at the McCormack Ranch
on SE Bear Creek Road. But
it was apparent no wolf took
Mutilated
cattle
have been
reported
in the
American
West since
at least
the 1960s.
123RF
down this cow.
Durheim noted several
straight incisions on the ani-
mal. One udder had been re-
moved and a circular cut was
made around the anus and the
reproductive organs removed
without puncturing the gut.
The left cheek, left eye and
tongue had been removed.
“Again, I noted straight,
clean incisions where the cheek
had been,” Durheim wrote in
his case report.
Durheim examined the
carcass and found a puncture
wound between the neck and
shoulder. He found no bite
marks.
“There were no apparent an-
imal or human tracks immedi-
ately surrounding the carcass,
and only minimal blood in the
area,” Durheim wrote. “I know
from personal experience that
if an animal is killed or scav-
enged by predators, there is
typically a large bloody messy
area surrounding the carcass.”
On March 6, Casey Thomas
called police back to report
finding another dead cow
bearing the same strange inju-
ries. This one was more badly
decomposed than the first but
its left cheek was also removed
and a 2-inch patch had been
cut into the hair on its neck.
Detectives took photos of
the dead cows to Prineville vet-
erinarian Dr. Taylor Karlin for
her perspective. She agreed the
deaths appeared unnatural and
her opinion was included in a
search warrant request filed in
the case to scan for cell phone
activity near where the cows
were found. Charges in any of
the cases could include tres-
passing and aggravated animal
abuse. With the cattle valued
at $1,250 to $1,400 each, crim-
inal mischief might also be
charged.
As a vet with an interest in
large animals, Karlin has per-
formed many post-mortem
examinations on deceased
livestock. When, and if, an-
other mutilated cow turns up
in Crook County, Karlin has
agreed to perform an appro-
priate necropsy so she can per-
sonally examine a fresh speci-
men if another turns up.
“I wish I had an answer,” she
said. “We’re kind of at a loss.”
One possible explanation
is these were, in fact, natural
deaths
Podcast host Dunning’s
long-running show Skeptoid
devoted an episode to de-
bunking cattle mutilation in
2015. Dunning, who read the
28-page search warrant re-
quest, called the recent Crook
County case typical of numer-
ous accounts often attributed
to aliens or satanic rituals.
“This is almost certainly the
same kind of bird predation
we’ve seen in so many similar
cases,” he wrote to The Bulle-
tin. “In my opinion, there is
nothing here that suggests any-
thing but normal and expected
bird predation had occurred,
and ... no justification for a
search warrant to seek out an
apocryphal human responsible
for the wounds.”
Dunning said he’s learned
there’s actually a short window
of time between when the an-
imal dies and when its body
is scavenged when it’s obvious
what killed the animal.
“Most particularly birds, and
also some insects, will always
go first for the exposed soft
tissue: eyes, tongue, lips and
mouth area, genitals. The an-
imal is dead with zero blood
pressure so there is never sig-
nificant bleeding from post
mortem wounds. The body is
in the process of drying and
decaying, so skin pulls tight
from around the excised area,
giving the impression of a per-
fect surgical cut.”
Karlin is awaiting the results
of liver and blood samples she’s
sent away for lab testing. Police
have sent hair samples to the
state crime lab on the chance
they don’t belong to the bovine.
Last year, the FBI in Ore-
gon started receiving ques-
tions about cattle mutilations
in Central and Eastern Ore-
gon, according to Beth Anne
Steele, spokesperson for the
FBI Portland office. But despite
sporadic media inquiries, the
office does not have a current
role in the cattle mutilation
investigations, Steele wrote to
The Bulletin.
e e
Reporter: 541-383-0325,
gandrews@bendbulletin.com
OBITUARY
Ernest Dalton Davidson
INDIANAPOLIS
4 Sikhs among victims of mass shooting
BY CASEY SMITH
AND RICK CALLAHAN
Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — Amarjit
Sekhon, a 48-year-old mother
of two sons, was the breadwin-
ner of her family and one of
many members of Indianapo-
lis’ tight knit Sikh community
employed at a FedEx ware-
house on the city’s southwest
side.
Her death Thursday night in
a mass shooting that claimed
the lives of seven other FedEx
employees — four of them
Sikhs — has left that commu-
nity stunned and in mourning,
her brother-in-law, Kuldip Sek-
hon, said Saturday.
Police said Brandon Scott
Hole, 19, apparently began fir-
ing randomly at people in the
parking lot of the FedEx facil-
ity, killing four, before entering
the building, fatally shooting
four more people and then
turning the gun on himself.
It was not clear if Sikhs were
targeted in the shooting. Hole’s
motives remained unclear Sat-
urday.
The killings marked the lat-
est in a string of recent mass
shootings across the country
and the third mass shooting
this year in Indianapolis.
Deputy Police Chief Craig
A body is
taken from
the scene
where mul-
tiple people
were shot at a
FedEx Ground
facility in Indi-
anapolis.
Michael Conroy/AP
McCartt said Hole was a for-
mer employee of FedEx and
last worked for the company in
2020. The deputy police chief
said he did not know why Hole
left the job or if he had ties to
the workers in the facility.
About 90% of the workers
at the facility near the India-
napolis International Airport
are members of the local Sikh
community, Indianapolis Po-
lice Chief Randal Taylor said
Friday. Members of the reli-
gion, which began in India in
the 15th century, began set-
tling in Indiana more than 50
years ago and opened their first
house of worship, known as a
gurdwara, in 1999.
The attack was another blow
to the Asian American com-
munity a month after six peo-
ple of Asian descent were killed
in a mass shooting in the At-
lanta area and amid ongoing
attacks against Asian Amer-
icans during the coronavirus
pandemic.
May 18, 2021 Special District Election
VIRTUAL CANDIDATE FORUMS SLATE!
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County have partnered to bring you candidate forums. Video production by
Connect Central Oregon.
These virtual forums are FREE to the public.
Forums are pre-recorded.
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least via email to info@cityclubco.org or info@lwvdeschutes.org
Donna Cecelia
Hatch-Bartley
of Redmond, OR
December 30, 1938 -
April 11, 2021
Arrangements:
Niswonger-Reynolds
Funeral Home is honored
to serve the family.
541-382-2471 Please
visit the online registry for
the family at www.nis-
wonger-reynolds.com
Services:
A gathering of family &
friends will be held at a
later date.
Contributions may be
made to:
Country Side Living 1350
NW Canal Blvd, Redmond,
OR, 97756 or Alzheimers
Association 777 NW Wall
St, Bend, OR 97703
Rodney Lee Little
of Prineville, OR
Feb 7, 1942 - March 26,
2021
Services:
Celebration of Life 4/16/21
@ 1:00pm Mitchell Baptist
Church, Mitchell
Contributions may be
made to:
American Cancer Society
OBITUARY DEADLINE
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• April 22, 5:30pm: Admin. School Dist. 1, Bend-La Pine School Board zones 1,2,4, 7
• April 24, 5:30 pm: Deschutes Public Library District, Library Board zone 3
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December 24, 1931 - March 28, 2021
Ernest
Dalton
Davidson, passed
away March 28,
2021 at his home
in the arms of his
beloved wife of
67 years, Wynona
Gates Davidson.
“Ernie” was born
December
24,
1931 in Hillsboro,
Oregon;
the
son of Roy Lee
Davidson
and
Ernesti ne Brown
Davidson.
He
att ended school
in Forest Grove,
Oregon
and
graduated as a three-sport lett erman and Hi-Y President
from Forest Grove High School in 1950.
He joined the US Navy and was in the VA 195 Air Group
as lead aircraft mechanic aboard the carriers, Princeton
and Oriskany, for two tours in Korea. As a mechanic,
he volunteered to be fl own in behind enemy lines to
retrieve downed pilots and their planes. Between the
two tours, on June 21, 1953, he married the love of his
life and best friend “Nonie” Davidson in Forest Grove.
Ernie was honorably discharged in 1955 and the next
day began work at the Ford Plant in San Jose, CA. Aft er a
year in San Jose, he and Nonie returned to the Davidson
family farm in Forest Grove where Ernie worked the
farm and enrolled at Pacifi c University. Ernie graduated
in 1958 with a bachelor of Science in Educati on and
Mathemati cs. They moved to Pilot Rock, OR where he
taught Math for 4 years.
In 1963, Ernie and Nonie moved to Bend with their two
boys Dan and Rick. Ernie taught Math at Bend High
School and later became Assistant Principal of the same
school. In 1975, he became the Administrator of Data
Processing for the Bend-LaPine School District where
he was responsible for converti ng the school system to
computerizati on. He reti red from the schools in 1990.
He always said his favorite job was teaching because he
enjoyed the students.
Nearly every day for Ernie was a new experience and fun
adventure. Dalton (as the family called him) camped
out in the farm woods as a youngster, he learned to fl y
an airplane before he was out of high school, he logged,
drove freight trucks, rode his horse in a rodeo and enjoyed
helping his brother-in-law operate heavy equipment in
Forest Grove. In Bend he was on the Search and Rescue
team and also part of the Mt. Bachelor Ski Patrol. He
was an avid hunter and fi sherman and was most
content being outdoors. Ernie’s family was foremost...
family weekends were spent camping, fi shing, hunti ng,
clamming, crabbing or sitti ng around a bonfi re...even
woodcutti ng with Ernie was a “fun” adventure! As the
boys got older, the boy’s acti viti es were Ernie’s prioriti es.
Upon reti rement, these adventures conti nued with
backpacking in Europe, cruising or being snowbirds in
the pickup and camper.
Ernie was a people person and loved spending ti me
swapping stories with his friends and family, having
dinner parti es, playing bridge or poker. He was known
and loved by many whether you called him Dalton,
Ernie, Bones, Pops, or Mr. Davidson.
He was preceded in death by his parents and two sisters,
Janice and Dorothy Lee. He is survived by his wife,
Wynona, two sons: Dan (wife Julie) of Coeur d’Alene
and Rick (wife Jutt a) of Germany, 5 Grandchildren and 7
Great Grandchildren.
Because of the Pandemic there will not be a service
at this ti me, but a tentati ve date is set for August 14.
Instead of fl owers, contributi ons may be given to the
Bend Educati on Foundati on or Band of Brothers.