Goat kids "vanished" from pen in New Hampshire, prompting police investigation
EXETER, N.H. – New Hampshire police are investigating after they say baby goats "disappeared" twice in a span of several weeks.
Three baby goats, known as "kids," vanished May 25 from Newfields Road in Exeter. Their owner said another baby goat turned up missing several weeks earlier and was never found.
The owner said they heard the goats making noises around 2 a.m. the morning they disappeared. She went to check on the goats and they were fine, but when the woman returned to feed them at 5:45 a.m., the goats were missing.
Bear is top suspect
No blood or fur was found in the animals' pen, but some remains were later found in a wooded area of the property.
Exeter police said that when the first goat went missing, its owner assumed a predator was responsible. But when the additional three goats disappeared, she became suspicious and thought they could have been stolen.
Police said that at this time, New Hampshire Fish and Game says it seems a bear may have taken the goats.
An "unusual case"
After learning of the incident, police in nearby Hampton Falls said they had a similar incident involving missing goats. Police said they haven't found any evidence that the cases are connected.
"This is an unusual case that's obviously very distressing to the owners of these goats, which is understandable," Exeter Police Chief Stephan Poulin said. "Our officers have investigated the circumstances surrounding the disappearance and have been unable to find any evidence suggesting that someone other than a wild animal like a bear, as Fish and Game indicated, was involved."