Reward grows to $10K in search for Nevada wild horse killers

ELY, Nev. (AP) — The reward has grown to $10,000 as authorities continue to search for the killer or killers of five wild horses shot last fall in eastern Nevada bout 70 miles (113 kilometers) west of the Utah line.

Four horses, including one with an aborted fetus attached, were found dead within 600 yards (550 meters) of each other on Nov. 16 in Jakes Valley about 30 miles (48 km) west of Ely and 2 miles (3.2 km) south of U.S. Highway 50.

A fifth horse was still alive but wounded so severely it had to be euthanized, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management said.

The bureau announced on Thursday the American Wild Horse Campaign was adding $5,000 to the $5,000 reward the agency earlier offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for the horses’ deaths.

“We hope that increasing this reward will help lead to an arrest and conviction for this cruelty,” said Holly Gann Bice, director of government relations for the campaign.

The horses, with ages ranging from about 18 months to six years, were killed on or about the day a member of the public reported their discovery on Nov. 16, the bureau said.

Anyone with information should call the BLM’s crime hotline at 775-861-6550.