7 Stolen Goats Rescued in Fresno County, But 59 Still Missing in Rash of Thefts

Authorities have rescued seven more goats stolen from their owners in Fresno County and arrested a suspect, though nearly 60 of the animals remain missing in a rash of thefts that have taken place in the area since early January, officials said.

From Jan. 9 through March 11, 70 goats — totaling $28,000 in losses — have gone missing from different private properties in the area between Easton and Riverdale, communities 7 to 30 miles south of Fresno, the Fresno County Sheriff’s Ag Task Force said Tuesday in a statement.

On Monday, a tipster said some recently stolen goats were being kept at a ranch in Fresno. There, authorities found 18 goats: Five of them belonged to members of the Kingsburg 4-H club, which reported the animals stolen on March 11, and two belonged to another person who had reported them as having been taken. It’s unclear whether the remaining 11 were also taken, but authorities took them to a boarding facility while they try to track down their owners.

Manuel Hernandez, 75, of Fresno, has been booked into the Fresno County Jail for possession of stolen property. His bail is set at $11,000.

“We don’t have anything to pin the actual theft on him … we just know that some of our stolen goats turned up on his property,” said Tony Botti, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office.

As of Tuesday, seven cases remain open with 59 goats missing. Ag Task Force detectives are working with investigators in Kings and Tulare counties to try to solve the cases.

Kristy Picquette of Kingsburg was among the first of the goat owners whose animals disappeared. Her son Timothy’s nine goats, which had been staying on a friend’s property in the nearby town of Easton, vanished in the middle of the night.

“Honestly, for the first seven days I couldn’t sleep because I was so concerned,” Picquette, who has raised goats for years, previously told KQED.

A few weeks ago, four of the goats were found on the side of the road, more than 20 miles from where they were taken. All of them were sick. Five more of the missing goats, which Timothy, 14, takes care of through his participation in a local 4-H agricultural program, were found on Monday at the Fresno ranch.

“Totally ecstatic we got them back … that’s a blessing,” she said Wednesday. However, they were in “horrible condition” after being held in a chicken coop, she added: “It was heart-wrenching. … We are not out of the woods with them.”

The goats will undergo blood tests and be kept in quarantine for a year, with separate pens for the two groups “to keep them all safe and not risk getting diseases,” said Picquette, noting she was concerned that the five goats found on Monday might have been exposed to illness since they were gone for much longer than the first group of four. The family also will have to bear additional costs for the bloodwork and pens.

KQED News’ Michelle Wiley contributed to this report.