GARVIN COUNTY, Okla. -- Garvin County authorities say a group of thieves packed stolen cattle so tightly inside a trailer it killed some of them. Investigators returned the surviving cattle back to the owner Thursday evening, but they're still looking for the people who stole the animals in the first place.
"That's a year's worth of work for somebody to just come in overnight and load them up and haul them away," Joe Lewis said.
And a little odd for someone to abandon a trailer that's literally packed full of cattle, but that's exactly what the Garvin County Sheriff's department and Department of Agriculture say a group of thieves did when they got a flat tire.
Authorities say they stole 16 head of cattle and packed them so tightly inside a 14 foot trailer, they were piled on top of each other.
It was so bad, they say two of them died.
"Four of them were standing on their haunches with their front legs sticking out of the trailer," Garvin County Sheriff's Department Captain Jim Mullett said. "Anybody who has cattle is not going to treat their cattle that way."
Joe Lewis lives near the area where the suspects broke down and agreed to help them.
Lewis allowed them to leave their trailer and unload the cattle on his land so they could leave to get a spare tire; however, the suspects never returned.
That's when Lewis acted on his suspicions and called the sheriff's department.
"There were just several things that people that raise cattle don't actually do," Lewis said. "It'll make you mad."
Despite the brand on the cattle being altered, investigators were able to track down the owner who lives in Duncan.
They're still searching for the suspects who are identified as two white men and a white woman.
They are now facing charges of animal cruelty and theft.
The suspects were last seen driving a late-model black Dodge truck.
"That's a year's worth of work for somebody to just come in overnight and load them up and haul them away," Joe Lewis said.
And a little odd for someone to abandon a trailer that's literally packed full of cattle, but that's exactly what the Garvin County Sheriff's department and Department of Agriculture say a group of thieves did when they got a flat tire.
Authorities say they stole 16 head of cattle and packed them so tightly inside a 14 foot trailer, they were piled on top of each other.
It was so bad, they say two of them died.
"Four of them were standing on their haunches with their front legs sticking out of the trailer," Garvin County Sheriff's Department Captain Jim Mullett said. "Anybody who has cattle is not going to treat their cattle that way."
Joe Lewis lives near the area where the suspects broke down and agreed to help them.
Lewis allowed them to leave their trailer and unload the cattle on his land so they could leave to get a spare tire; however, the suspects never returned.
That's when Lewis acted on his suspicions and called the sheriff's department.
"There were just several things that people that raise cattle don't actually do," Lewis said. "It'll make you mad."
Despite the brand on the cattle being altered, investigators were able to track down the owner who lives in Duncan.
They're still searching for the suspects who are identified as two white men and a white woman.
They are now facing charges of animal cruelty and theft.
The suspects were last seen driving a late-model black Dodge truck.
