Two families are desperately searching for answers after their horses went missing under what they say are suspicious circumstances.The horses reportedly went missing sometime between late Thursday night and early Friday morning in both Okeechobee County and St. Lucie County. Okeechobee CountyMatthew Johnson lives in rural Okeechobee County, where the family owns several horses and other animals. The family was going about their normal Friday morning routine when their daughter stopped by the house and went to check on the horses. She soon realized three of them were missing. Ben, Scout and Winchester were nowhere to be found.”The initial thought is, whenever any livestock gets out, where’s the fence down? So, she’s checking fences. At this point, she calls us, and we’re heading home from town, from the gym, and she calls us, we’re still 10 minutes away or so, and she’s like, ‘I can’t find holes in any fences, all the fences are up,'” Johnson explained. When they got home, he said they checked the property and eventually found clues that led them to believe the horses didn’t just get out. “We noticed that the cable that was wrapped around those gates was cut,” Johnson said. “We never used those gates; those gates are just the original ones for the property.”They took a closer look and noticed tire tracks leading to the gate. “We called 911, and the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Department showed up. We got the initial report filed and just started gathering clues,” he said.Johnson told WPBF they were in shock. “We know this happens, and it’s disgusting and it’s so hurtful to so many people,” he added. Johnson explained he doesn’t think whoever took the horses brought a trailer with them. “What we think happened is they drove to the gate, and they put some rope or halter around these horses. They did have a bag of horse feed, which law enforcement collected as evidence because we found it across the street,” he said. He said he believes the horses were walked out.”They were most likely ponied out, being baited with some feed, and went right out the front gate. And you can see horse tracks and human tracks on the other side of the street, which is a very large pasture,” Johnson said. Johnson said the three horses mean the world to his family and, in some ways, even helped raise their kids. “They were the trusty, reliable horses of ours that, you know, you could now take a little child, a little baby, and set them on, and they won’t do anything,” he said. “They served our family so well, and they were just here to live the rest of their life, because we’re not using them anymore, they’re retired.”With them gone, he said it feels like they’ve lost a piece of their family.”It’s like we lost that family member, we lost three, it’s a tragedy. I would never try to compare this to human life, but it is about as close as you can get,” Johnson said.He said they’re trying to stay hopeful, but it’s not easy.”The truth that’s just eating us alive, makes my hair stand up on my arms, honestly, is most of these situations, they’re gone,” Johnson explained. He told WPBF he wishes he could have done more to protect them. “If I was awake, my horses would be alive; I can say that much,” he added.Johnson wants to thank the sheriff’s office for its efforts and everyone on social media for their support. St. Lucie CountyMelanie Stavert lives in Fort Pierce and told WPBF she woke up Friday morning to find her horse Okie was gone. “We thought originally he got loose from what a neighbor had said, but we found out there was tire marks right up to the fence,” she said.She checked in with a nearby business that had camera footage showing someone driving down her road around 4 a.m.”They did enter our dead-end road at 4:11 a.m., and they left at 4:25 a.m.,” she explained. “So they were pretty in and out.”Stavert said Okie is 18 years old and is the best horse to their family. “My kids are very, very upset. My daughter, on Friday, she cried all day and she would not eat. It’s just heartbreaking,” she added. Stavert shared videos with WPBF of Okie hanging out with them inside their home and pictures of her kids riding him. “He was the best horse. My kids love him. They would climb on him bareback. He was good around all the animals, the pigs and the dogs. He was just the best horse,” she said.She says she’s trying her best to stay hopeful but fears the worst. “My biggest fear is that he’ll end up at a slaughterhouse or just killed in a ritual. It’s sad to think that that’s how his life will end. I hope not,” she said. “I hope we can still find him alive, but when people steal horses, and with all the horse disappearances going on lately, there’s never good intentions. And to be resold at an auction seems a little risky, so yeah, my fear is he’ll end up slaughtered.”Stavert got emotional thinking of that outcome. “It’s illegal, it’s wrong, it’s sick. You’re ruining people’s lives, my kids are traumatized and upset, you broke all our hearts, and it’s just, I’m just shocked. Like I have no words, I don’t know what to say, like there’s nothing I can say, I feel like we’ll bring him back. It’s pure evil, there’s pure evilness in this world,” she said. Law enforcement investigatingBoth Johnson and Stavert said they filed a report with their local sheriff’s offices.WPBF reached out to both the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office and the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office. The Okeechobee office hasn’t gotten back to us yet. The St. Lucie County office confirmed it is investigating a reported horse theft in Fort Pierce. Anyone with information is asked to contact law enforcement. Top headlines:Stay up to date: The latest headlines and weather from WPBF 25 Get the latest news updates with the WPBF 25 News app. You can download it here.
Two families are desperately searching for answers after their horses went missing under what they say are suspicious circumstances.
The horses reportedly went missing sometime between late Thursday night and early Friday morning in both Okeechobee County and St. Lucie County.
Okeechobee County
Matthew Johnson lives in rural Okeechobee County, where the family owns several horses and other animals.
The family was going about their normal Friday morning routine when their daughter stopped by the house and went to check on the horses. She soon realized three of them were missing.
Ben, Scout and Winchester were nowhere to be found.
“The initial thought is, whenever any livestock gets out, where’s the fence down? So, she’s checking fences. At this point, she calls us, and we’re heading home from town, from the gym, and she calls us, we’re still 10 minutes away or so, and she’s like, ‘I can’t find holes in any fences, all the fences are up,'” Johnson explained.
When they got home, he said they checked the property and eventually found clues that led them to believe the horses didn’t just get out.
“We noticed that the cable that was wrapped around those gates was cut,” Johnson said. “We never used those gates; those gates are just the original ones for the property.”
They took a closer look and noticed tire tracks leading to the gate.
“We called 911, and the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Department showed up. We got the initial report filed and just started gathering clues,” he said.
Johnson told WPBF they were in shock.
“We know this happens, and it’s disgusting and it’s so hurtful to so many people,” he added.
Johnson explained he doesn’t think whoever took the horses brought a trailer with them.
“What we think happened is they drove to the gate, and they put some rope or halter around these horses. They did have a bag of horse feed, which law enforcement collected as evidence because we found it across the street,” he said.
He said he believes the horses were walked out.
“They were most likely ponied out, being baited with some feed, and went right out the front gate. And you can see horse tracks and human tracks on the other side of the street, which is a very large pasture,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the three horses mean the world to his family and, in some ways, even helped raise their kids.
“They were the trusty, reliable horses of ours that, you know, you could now take a little child, a little baby, and set them on, and they won’t do anything,” he said. “They served our family so well, and they were just here to live the rest of their life, because we’re not using them anymore, they’re retired.”
With them gone, he said it feels like they’ve lost a piece of their family.
“It’s like we lost that family member, we lost three, it’s a tragedy. I would never try to compare this to human life, but it is about as close as you can get,” Johnson said.
He said they’re trying to stay hopeful, but it’s not easy.
“The truth that’s just eating us alive, makes my hair stand up on my arms, honestly, is most of these situations, they’re gone,” Johnson explained.
He told WPBF he wishes he could have done more to protect them.
“If I was awake, my horses would be alive; I can say that much,” he added.
Johnson wants to thank the sheriff’s office for its efforts and everyone on social media for their support.
St. Lucie County
Melanie Stavert lives in Fort Pierce and told WPBF she woke up Friday morning to find her horse Okie was gone.
“We thought originally he got loose from what a neighbor had said, but we found out there was tire marks right up to the fence,” she said.
She checked in with a nearby business that had camera footage showing someone driving down her road around 4 a.m.
“They did enter our dead-end road at 4:11 a.m., and they left at 4:25 a.m.,” she explained. “So they were pretty in and out.”
Stavert said Okie is 18 years old and is the best horse to their family.
“My kids are very, very upset. My daughter, on Friday, she cried all day and she would not eat. It’s just heartbreaking,” she added.
Stavert shared videos with WPBF of Okie hanging out with them inside their home and pictures of her kids riding him.
“He was the best horse. My kids love him. They would climb on him bareback. He was good around all the animals, the pigs and the dogs. He was just the best horse,” she said.
She says she’s trying her best to stay hopeful but fears the worst.
“My biggest fear is that he’ll end up at a slaughterhouse or just killed in a ritual. It’s sad to think that that’s how his life will end. I hope not,” she said. “I hope we can still find him alive, but when people steal horses, and with all the horse disappearances going on lately, there’s never good intentions. And to be resold at an auction seems a little risky, so yeah, my fear is he’ll end up slaughtered.”
Stavert got emotional thinking of that outcome.
“It’s illegal, it’s wrong, it’s sick. You’re ruining people’s lives, my kids are traumatized and upset, you broke all our hearts, and it’s just, I’m just shocked. Like I have no words, I don’t know what to say, like there’s nothing I can say, I feel like we’ll bring him back. It’s pure evil, there’s pure evilness in this world,” she said.
Law enforcement investigating
Both Johnson and Stavert said they filed a report with their local sheriff’s offices.
WPBF reached out to both the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office and the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office. The Okeechobee office hasn’t gotten back to us yet. The St. Lucie County office confirmed it is investigating a reported horse theft in Fort Pierce.
Anyone with information is asked to contact law enforcement.
Top headlines:
Stay up to date: The latest headlines and weather from WPBF 25
Get the latest news updates with the WPBF 25 News app. You can download it here.
