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This file concerns reports of cattle and other livestock mutilations in the Midwest and West during the mid-1970s, including Nebraska, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Minnesota. The FBI's role was mainly to answer requests from members of Congress and field offices about whether the Bureau had jurisdiction, with officials repeatedly noting that no federal violation was shown without evidence such as interstate transportation under the stolen cattle statute. The released records include Senate correspondence from Carl T. Curtis and Floyd K. Haskell, FBI airtels and memoranda, press clippings and editorials, and internal notes on contacts with the Denver Post and local officials. The documents describe reported patterns such as missing ears, eyes, sex organs, udders, drained blood, lack of footprints, and rumors about helicopters or cult activity, while also recording veterinary and wildlife explanations that scavengers such as foxes could account for many carcass conditions.

FBI file number: 52-0-14143 | Documents span: 1974-1975 | Released in 5 parts
Names in this file: Clarence M. Kelley, Carl T. Curtis, Floyd K. Haskell, George Hitchcock, Richard Hildeman, Don Wilson, Donald J. Sebesta, Charles R. Buxton, Robert Fattridge, Lee Olson, James L. Treece, Dan Edwards
Subjects: animal mutilation, cattle, livestock, FBI jurisdiction, congressional correspondence, press coverage