Five cows thought to be stolen show up; 4 still missing
Published 5:44 pm Wednesday, August 19, 2015
By Shavonne Walker
shavonne.walker@salisburypost.com
ROCKWELL — Five cows once thought to be stolen have shown up, farm owner Jessica Hellems said Wednesday, but she’s still on the hunt for four that haven’t turned up.
Hellems, 22, reported to the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office on Monday that nine cows were missing.
She told authorities she checked her fences and gates at the property, the Trading Post, to make sure they were not broken, and she talked with her neighbors, but none had seen any activity.
She also contacted local livestock sales to see if any of her cows had shown up, but none had, she told Rowan investigators.
She said two of the cows were black angus and seven were baldies. Hellems valued each cow at an estimated $1,300.
Hellems said Wednesday the cows somehow made their way through a fence, although she’s not sure how it happened.
She and others rode around to look for the cows Tuesday night and five of her cows were “recovered a couple of roads over,” she said, behind a neighbors’ property.
“There were no tracks, and we were pretty sure someone had taken them,” Hellems said.
Two cows have gotten out of a fenced-in area before, Hellems said, but they’ve always been found right next to the fence.
There is a plan to continue searching, and she’s hopeful the final four cows will be found.
“We have an idea of the vicinity,” she said.
Contact reporter Shavonne Walker at 704-797-4253.
