Parsons City, Kansas: According to the most recent data from the United States Census Bureau, Parsons City had under 10,000 residents as of April 2020.
Despite that, police there have found three dead dogs in the past year and another that had been injured.
On Tuesday, January 11 the Parsons Police Department published a press release to their website indicating that "Drako" had been found deceased.
"Under normal circumstance there would not be an autopsy done on a dog that was found deceased," the release read, "but due to the nature of the disposal and the area of town in which it went missing it was important to find out if the dog was murdered."
Drako had been reported missing from the 1300 block of South 13th Street.
On December 29 a juvenile found his remains wrapped in a blanket near a small bridge near Felix and 17th Street.
The autopsy determined that Drako had suffered "severe trauma" to the abdomen and "trauma around the neck from the choke chain" that was still present. According to the doctor compiling the report at Parson Pet Hospital "all trauma was consistent with a human killing the animal and was not consistent with an animal attack nor vehicle strike."
On December 3, 2021, a police officer's 3-month-old German Shepherd puppy, "Ranger" was found deceased in in the back yard of a residence in the 1400 block of South 14th Street.
"Officers determined that the puppy had its head sliced off with a sharpened blade at another location and then the suspects returned the body to the backyard," The Kansas City Star quoted Police Sgt. Jason Ludwig as saying at the time.
Ranger had been let into a fenced backyard at about 7 am and was found dead at 2 pm.
At the time of Ranger's killing, Parsons Police Chief Robert Spinks said, "I cannot even begin to describe my feelings of disdain for the person(s) responsible."
"We are calling on our citizens again to help solve a case," Spinks continued. "Someone somewhere knows something, and we just need to be told so that we can follow up. We have hundreds of people in the community that are avid dog lovers. Please put your ears to the ground, let us know if you hear anything. I want this criminal brought to justice."
A fundraiser has even been established to raise additional reward money for information leading to the arrest of the individual(s) responsible. In total, the reward available for information currently sits at about $34,000.
"This is very frustrating for everyone involved," Spinks stated in the most recent release. "Officers want closure to these cases as bad as the general public. We have been and will continue to ask the public for support and information leading to the arrest of person or persons who are committing these crimes. It is really a shocking development that the $30,000 offered has not loosened any tongues. That is what leads us to believe that it is one person acting alone."
"Bleu" was found shot and killed in the same area of the city on an undisclosed date, and "Zeus" was also found shot, but survived.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Parsons Police Department at (620) 421-7060 or contact the Tip Line at (620) 421-7057.