In the News: ‘Police: Woman stole horse, blamed it on fake deputies’

That’s a headline out of Olympia, Wash., from a story in which a stable owner stole a boarder’s horse, dyed its star and hid it in a nearby field.

Why?

That’s a good question.

The horse, a buckskin quarter horse mare  named Hellfire, had been missing for four weeks from the small boarding facility where it was kept. Caitlyn Kennedy, the barn owner, told investigators that a law enforcement impersonator had fooled her into seizing the horse, a story bolstered by elaborate details.

According to the story, “[Kennedy] said a man claiming to be a deputy showed up with two other people who said they were horse rescue volunteers on reports that Hellfire wasn’t being cared for.”

Meanwhile the horse’s owner, Amanda Fischer-Williams, launched a Facebook page trying to find Hellfire. The effort yielded tips (“”That’s the horse community,” Fischer-Williams said. “Everybody knows everybody, everybody helps everybody. That’s how it goes”) that eventually led to Hellfire’s discovery.

Kennedy has since confessed to making up the whole story, claiming she thought “the horse wasn’t being well cared for,” and has been charged with theft of livestock and conspiracy.

Crazy people!

Check it out:

Read the full story here.