New clues revealed in ‘senseless’ killing of 19 wild burros, California officials say
Land management officials revealed new clues that will hopefully lead to a breakthrough in the killing of 19 burros along a California highway in 2019.
The Bureau of Land Management also offered another $10,000 on top of contributions from several animal rights groups, bringing the total to $36,000 for information that leads to justice in the killing, according to a May 3 news release.
The 19 dead burros were just the start of a “massacre” that left “scores of wild donkeys dead by the side of Interstate 15” at the northern edge of the Mojave Desert, SFGATE reported.
Federal investigators believe they’ve linked vehicles and weapons from the scene of the crime to these 19 of 42 total burro shootings that summer almost five years ago, the outlet reported.
Those responsible shot the burros along a 50-mile stretch of the highway northeast of Los Angeles between Baker, California, and Primm, Nevada, in August 2019, ABC10 reported.
And they left quite specific clues behind for investigators to follow, including uniquely painted ammunition cartridges and two vehicles of interest, officials said in the release.
Investigators want to speak with the owners of a gray or silver 2008 Toyota extended cab pickup truck with “flared fenders and a brush guard” and another 2008 Toyota extended cab pickup in white “with a white camper shell, white rims, sunroof, and brush guard,” officials said.
“Video surveillance captured both vehicles traveling together and last seen in Primm, Nev., on August 13, 2019, at approximately 06:32 a.m., in the parking lot of Whiskey Pete’s Hotel and Casino,” officials said.
Officials provided photos of both trucks from the surveillance footage.
Special agents with the bureau identified the specific weapon used as a .30-06 caliber rifle, “possibly vintage based on the rifling of the projectiles recovered, that could have been manufactured by Browning, Remington, Springfield, U.S. Military Arms, or Winchester,” officials said.
While the rifle is chambered for .30-06 Springfield ammunition, agents also believe whoever is responsible used their own reloaded ammo marked with red/orange paint on the bottom of their cartridges, officials said.
Officials ask anyone with any knowledge or information about the crime to contact the 24-hour WeTip crime reporting system at 909-987-5005 and to leave contact information so investigators can follow up with them — and dole out the reward for the information.
Burros are federally protected under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, which protects “wild, free-roaming horses and burros from capture, branding, harassment, or death; and considers them an integral part of the natural system of public lands managed by BLM,” officials said.
Beyond the federal protections, burros are also considered iconic to the American West, advocates said in the statement.
“Wild burros are a treasured part of our shared cultural heritage in the American West, and we are committed to finding and prosecuting those responsible for this senseless crime,” BLM Wild Horse and Burro Division Chief Holle Waddell said in the statement.
Four animal rights groups contributed to the reward money: $6,500 from the American Wild Horse Conservation, $2,500 from The Humane Society of the United States, $16,000 from The Platero Project — Seattle and $1,000 from the Animal Defense Council, officials said.
“These innocent burros were victims of a senseless act of violence,” Suzanne Roy of the American Wild Horse Conservation said in the BLM’s statement. “The perpetrators of these federal crimes must be brought to justice.”
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