Problem Solvers: Cattle Mutilations in Central and Eastern Oregon Remain a Mystery for Ranchers

Editor's note: This story contains descriptions and images of animal mutilation that some readers may find disturbing.

HARNEY COUNTY, Ore. (KTVZ) — For generations, stories of cattle mutilations have circulated across the American West. They've been featured on shows and documentaries like Unsolved Mysteries and Ancient Aliens, fueling decades of speculation ranging from cults, conspiracies, and the paranormal.

But for one Eastern Oregon rancher, there's nothing mysterious about the loss.

What happened on a remote stretch of rangeland outside Burns in the summer of 2019 wasn't entertainment. It was five valuable breeding bulls, killed and surgically mutilated in less than 24 hours, a case that remains unsolved nearly seven years later.

A discovery that still doesn't make sense

Colby Marshall's family has ranched in Eastern Oregon for five generations. He's spent much of his life working some of the state's most remote country, but nothing prepared him for the phone call he received in late August 2019 while managing operations at Silvies Valley Ranch.

One of his cowboys had found a dead bull.

"Got another dead bull up here," the cowboy told him. "They're missing their reproductive organs. It's like somebody cut them off."

Marshall remembers his disbelief, "I said, 'Are you kidding me?' That just didn't make any sense."

Seven years later, he says the memory still gives him chills. "It gives you goosebumps because nothing about it makes any sense."

Marshall led KTVZ to the isolated site, more than an hour's drive from Burns, followed by a hike across rugged terrain. Even after all these years, the bull's bones remain scattered across the landscape.

Photographs taken months after the animal died show it already deep into decomposition. But the evidence that stands out isn't the decay. It's the precision.

Marshall points to what he describes as carefully made incisions running along the animal's body. Its internal organs, reproductive organs and blood were gone. Another clean cut removed the lips, while the tongue had also been taken.

What disturbed him most, however, was what wasn't there. "There was no blood of any kind at the scene," Marshall said. "No drips of blood. No pooling. No nothing."

Five bulls in one day

The first discovery wasn't the last.

Over the next 24 hours, Marshall found four more dead bulls, each lying only a few hundred yards apart across the sprawling ranch.

Standing beside another skeleton that still marks one of the crime scenes, Marshall says little has changed except the passage of time. "It is literally like this critter had just walked out across the ground and just fell over."

Unlike the first animal, this bull had been cut from its throat to its reproductive organs. Marshall says the cuts appeared deliberate and precise, allowing whoever was responsible to remove the organs and reproductive organs.

Again, he says, there was no visible blood at the scene.

With an estimated 200 pounds of organs, tissue and blood removed from each animal, Marshall believes whoever carried out the killings didn't act alone.

"I've actually made the statement that I feel like they're operating out of Central Oregon," he said. "That's probably not going to win me any fans in Central Oregon."

Marshall believes the organs may have been taken for cult rituals or sold on the black market, though he acknowledges he has no proof of either theory. What he does reject are the explanations that have helped make cattle mutilation cases famous.

Despite decades of speculation and television documentaries about extraterrestrials, Marshall says he does not believe aliens were responsible.

Instead, he worries those theories distract from what he sees as a very real crime committed by human beings. "It was so sad," he said. "It may have just pissed you off. All of these bulls were in the prime of their life."

A mystery spanning decades

Marshall's case is far from unique.

For decades, ranchers and researchers have documented more than 10,000 reports of livestock mutilations across North America, including numerous cases in Central and Eastern Oregon. Despite investigations by local, state and federal agencies over the years, very few have ever been solved.

"The FBI has studied it. There's been congressional hearings about it," Marshall said.

"And not one arrest?" KTVZ asked.

"That's exactly right."

Harney County Sheriff Dan Jenkins has participated in interviews for television programs and a forthcoming documentary about the case, but did not respond to KTVZ's requests for comment by phone or email.

Based on Jenkins' previous public interviews, there do not appear to be any new leads, identified suspects or significant developments in the investigation.

Hoping someone finally comes forward

Marshall says he agreed to revisit the crime scenes because he believes someone knows what happened. Only a handful of people have ever accompanied him to the isolated locations where the bulls were found.

After years without answers, he hopes renewed attention could encourage someone with information to finally come forward.

For Marshall, the mystery isn't about conspiracy theories or television shows. It's about five animals, a devastating loss, and a case that has remained unanswered for nearly seven years.

If you believe you know anything, you're asked to contact the Harney County Sheriff.