THIEF RIVER FALLS, Minn. -- Authorities in the Thief River Falls region are seeking the public's help in their investigation of the weekend shooting deaths of two horses and critical injury to another on a farm near the far northwestern Minnesota community.
The incident occurred late Friday or early Saturday on the farm of Todd and Heidi Carlson, who live about one mile southeast of Thief River Falls Regional Airport. The airport is about three miles south of Thief River Falls.
The family, too, made an impassioned plea on Facebook for help in solving the crime.
Pennington County Sheriff Ray Kuznia is asking anyone who heard gunshots or saw a suspicious vehicle in that area late Friday or early Saturday to contact the Pennington County Sheriff's Department.
"It happened right near their residence. The house is right there," he said. "They did not hear a thing."
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Kuznia said the family did leave home for a while Friday evening, he said. At the time, the horses were about 60 feet from the house.
The horses that died were Lefty, a 9-year-old palomino registered quarterhorse and Gypsy, a sorrel-colored foal born last April. Injured was Cash, an 8-year-old paint that was shot in the neck.
The two deceased horses were sent to North Dakota State University in Fargo for necropsies, or autopsies for horses, according to the sheriff.
Kuznia said the investigation is continuing, adding that it is unknown whether the incident is related to an October shooting in which a horse was killed near Black River Lutheran Church in western Pennington County.
Word of last weekend's incident has been spreading through Heidi Carlson's Facebook page.
"Please help us find who did this so we have closure, and so this does not happen to another family," she posted on the page Tuesday.
"What we want people to be aware of is these animals are very attached to the family," Kuznia said. "People don't realize how attached people get to their horses. One horse is a daughter's 4-H project. Another one was professionally trained for barrel racing. It was a sad thing. Horses are family."
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the Pennington County Sheriff's Office at 218-681-6161.
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