This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A woman spending time near a fishing pond in Big Cottonwood Canyon made a grisly discovery — a basket filled with severed animal heads.
Unified police Detective Jared Richardson said police received a call from the woman late Thursday or early Friday about the discovery.
He said the woman told police she had found about six goat heads and six chicken heads inside a basket.
Next to the basket was a bag that the woman believed likely contained the animals' carcasses.
"But [she] was too scared to look in that bag," Richardson said.
He said the incident may have been a case of animal sacrifice, but performing the sacrifice and leaving the carcasses so close to water risks contaminating the area's watershed, which is a crime.
In addition, when people leave the severed heads in the open, Richardson said it is disturbing for individuals, particularly children, who might stumble upon them.
Janelle Stecklein