See also: Joan Zalk Pleads Guilty to Animal Cruelty for Running Chihuahua From Moving Car
According to the Wheat Ridge Police Department, officers responded to a call about the animals at approximately 6:35 p.m. on Sunday, October 5, at 4355 Field Street. The bodies were discovered in the Greenbelt area on a path near Clear Creek, between the baseball field and the basketball court. The area is captured in the following interactive graphic; if you have problems seeing the image, click "View Larger Map."
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At this location, officers found a male goat with its head cut off. Beside it were two birds that had also been beheaded. All three appeared to have been killed a short time before, but their heads were nowhere to be found.
Thus far, no suspect information is available and officers have yet to track down the owner of the goat. But that hasn't stopped speculation about who could have committed this sickening act -- and one person posting on the Wheat Ridge Police Department Facebook page claims to have knowledge of the perpetrators.
"It's the Satan worshippers that always have rituals back in there, along with Prospect Park," he writes. "I know where they tend to have them and always find evidence to prove they have been there.... Most times it's Thursdays and Saturday nights about 2 a.m. I saw them sacrifice a chicken once. That was three years or so ago."
To put it mildly, this post doesn't constitute proof that Satanists were behind these offenses -- but a person or persons with lethal intent certainly was. If you have any information about what took place, you're encouraged to contact the Wheat Ridge Community Services Team at 303-235-2926 or Crime Stoppers of Metro Denver at 720-913-7867, which is offering a reward of up to $2,000 in the case.
Send your story tips to the author, Michael Roberts.