Looking back: Cattle mutilation spree spreads fear in eastern Idaho

IDAHO FALLS — EastIdahoNews.com is looking back at what life was like during the week of Oct. 6 to Oct. 12 in east Idaho history.

1900-1925

RIGBY — A search was underway for a 13-year-old boy who disappeared, The Rigby Star reported on Oct. 11, 1917.

The teenager, whose name was not mentioned in the article, was the son of J.H. Heath, of Willow Creek. He was sent out to round up cattle one night and didn’t return home. His parents became “somewhat alarmed in regard to the matter” and the next day, they organized a search for him.

The teenager’s father learned that his son had been seen on the horse, which he was riding when he left his house, and was headed towards Grays Lake.

“It is quite evident that the young man had concluded to leave home for a while,” the paper wrote.

1926-1950

POCATELLO — A fire gutted most of a junior high school in Pocatello in 1949, the Idaho Falls Post Register reported on Oct. 9, 1949.

The fire broke out at Irving Junior High School on the morning of Oct. 8, 1949. The cause of the blaze wasn’t clear, but witnesses said flames first appeared above the stage area. It was thought that defective wiring might have been to blame for the fire.

Firefighters were called to the scene around 12:35 a.m. and battled the fire in below-freezing weather for nearly eight hours.

Damage was estimated to be more than $200,000, and 539 students from the seventh and eighth grades were left without classrooms.

1951-1975

EASTERN IDAHO — Cattle were being mutilated throughout eastern Idaho and an investigation centered around catching the mutilators was underway, the Idaho Falls Post Register reported on Oct. 11, 1975.

The mutilations were first reported on Sept. 19, 1975, in Fremont County. The Post Register published the first article in a series investigating the mutilations in October 1975, stating that there were up to 23 reported cases throughout the Upper Snake River Valley. The most recent case was of a three-day-old calf mutilated on a farm north of Rexburg.

Fremont County alone had 14 verified cattle mutilations at the time. In about 10 of the 14 reported cases in Fremont County, the blood of the animals had been removed. The paper said an average cow has about eight galloons of blood.

The Post Register explained that mutilated cows usually have sex organs removed, in addition to eyes, ears and its tongue. However, not all animals were having the same parts removed which led law enforcement to believe more than one person was performing the mutilations.

“The people are real scared here,” Fremont County deputy sheriff Terry Thompson said. “We are doing everything we can to catch those cattle mutilators.”

Due to so much of Fremont County rangeland being isolated, Thompson said if cattle are mutilated on the ranges, farmers might not know because the body decomposes so quickly.

Farmers in the Wilford, Egin and Chester areas organized patrol groups to watch over the farms at night. Thompson estimated about 100 farmers were involved in the patrolling and they were working in shifts and in pairs.

“If I catch someone out in my fields hunched over a cow, I will shoot first and ask questions later,” a Wilford farmer said.

LaVar Hunter, an Egin farmer, said he was participating in the night patrols because he’d “rather stay up all night as lose a cow. If they get that close on my property, they might go further and walk into my house.”

“If they have something that will knock down a 700-pound cow, what would it do to a man?” Rom Robinson, a Wilford farmer, asked.

Farmers patrolling the area at night were carrying loaded guns. Patrol stations were situated in various spots on the county road and all cars approaching the stops were checked to see who was inside and they were asked what they were doing in the area. New cars driving in the St. Anthony area day or night were also checked out via their license plates.

It was reported by local farmers that people in the area were more apprehensive about leaving home, day or night. The farmers advised people to not be out after 10 p.m. and said nobody should be in the fields late at night.

Farmers were getting their work done before dusk and telling their children to be out of the fields by then as well.

Thompson said three or four “unidentified flying objects” had been reported recently in the area but he and Rinehart both discounted the theory the mutilators were getting into the fields from helicopters.

The paper mentioned that farmers agreed it was not an animal doing the mutilations but that it was a human or humans.

“Whoever it is that says these animals were killed by coyotes hasn’t seen some of our animals,” a Wilford farmer said.

Gov. Cecil D. Andrus ordered Idaho Air National Guard pilots to “intensify their surveillance” of range lands during helicopter training flights in an effort to combat increased cattle mutilations.

“Starting today, all our Army National Guard helicopter pilots are being briefed on what to look for as part of their preflight briefings,” the governor said.

He added, “Numerous training flights are made across Idaho’s range land each day by these pilots. If they know what to look for I believe they can be of great assistance to sheriffs and cattlemen in combatting the recent rash of cattle mutilations.”

Thompson pointed out that when the people involved in the mutilations were caught, they will face a felony charge of grand larceny. If their vehicle is found on a farmer’s property, it would be impounded and sold at a public auction with the profits going into the county fund.

“This is serious business,” Thompson stated.

1976-2000

POCATELLO — A 23-year-old Pocatello man was arrested on a charge of loitering and prowling, the Idaho State Journal reported on Oct. 6, 1977.

Pocatello police responded to a report of a person with a dark sweatshirt and hood peering into an apartment window at 1:15 a.m. Police arrived at the scene and found a ladder leaning against a fence on the east side of the apartment complex.

A suspect, observed peeking around a brick barbecue, was asked to come out of his hiding place by the investigating officer.

Monte Joe Matkin was the man arrested. He plead guilty to the charge of loitering and prowling and was fined $32.50.