ANKENY, Iowa — An Ankeny woman said she wants answers after her horse was found dead on the side of the road and her four-wheeler went missing from her barn.
"I feel like I've been violated," Julie King said. "My heart is shattered. I can't remember a time in my life not having a horse. Stormy was probably going to be my last one. He was about 20 years old. I've had him since he was three."
King said she thinks the people who stole from her and spooked her horse Stormy, also hit and killed him.
"They tormented him and panicked him and now he's gone," King said.
Stormy was the horse King's children grew up with.
"My kids learned to ride on him," King said.
He was an unlikely friend to her dog.
"He and my Great Dane were best friends and played in the pasture," King said.
Stormy was also King's close companion.
"I've lost one of the best companions I've ever had," King said.
Stormy's death was still sinking in on Thursday, two days after he was found on the side of Oralabor Road.
"The morning after it happened, I got up and did my usual routine," King said. "I fed the dogs and got an apple to take to Stormy in the morning. I got to the barn and realized my pasture's empty now because some fools had to steal something that wasn't theirs and then, on top of that, torment my horse to the point where he panicked and ran from the one place where he knew he was safe."
King said the four-wheeler is the least of her concerns.
"I don't care about that," King said. "It can be replaced."
King just wants to find out who is responsible for letting Stormy out; a move that ultimately led to the gentle giant's untimely death.
"To anybody out there that knows something, please come forward," King said. "There has to be a body shop where this vehicle is. I'm sure they said they hit a deer or something like that. They hit a 1,500-pound horse."
The Polk County Sheriff's Department is investigating this case. If you have any information, call Crime Stoppers at 515-223-1400. You can also submit a tip online by clicking here.