They’re baaaaack!

Stolen goats return

home to Bristol after

Monday ‘kid’napping

by Teresa Eubanks, CLJNews.com

BRISTOL, FL – A family of four goats who went missing Monday are back home, safe and sound, after their sudden disappearance sparked a search that resulted the arrest of a Bay County man Friday.

The animals were greeted with welcome home signs by two young students. They are among the many Bristol residents who enjoy watching the goats from their grazing spot around a retention pond on Liberty County school property at the corner of CR 12 and Michaux Road in Bristol.

The image below of a 1998 red Dodge 3500 was caught on a Flock camera in Liberty County Monday. Members of the facebook community reported their own sightings of the vehicle in Bristol as well as Jackson County. The truck had an Arkansas license plate.

One woman on facebook said she was on Cherry Street in Callaway recently when she spotted the distinctive red truck but did not see any goats at that time. “The truck turned on Berthe around 5 pm. It stopped in middle of road because that blue cooler fell off the truck. Driving like an idiot. Had a black chicken or bird in the cage,” she wrote.

The suspect was identified as Jimmy Cowell, who was arrested and charged with four counts of theft for taking the goats and one count of breaking into school property.

“This was never just about the goats,” said Liberty County Sheriff Dusty Arnold. “This is the simple principal that somebody came over and stole from our kids.”

ABOVE: Traffic cameras identified this vehicle that was seen at the site where animals were taken from this past Monday in Bristol. BELOW: A facebook member posted the photo below showing the scene outside the Bay County home where the suspect was arrested.