Decapitated Animals Found Near Apartment Puts Community on Alert

Several bags of decapitated animals were recently discovered near an apartment complex in Georgia, placing the local community on alert.

According to a report from the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, which was provided to Newsweek, the incident occurred on Saturday, June 25 when an individual called the department and notified officers that she recently discovered "bagged dead animals in the wooded area by their apartment."

Officers later arrived at the apartment complex and discovered 23 bags containing "various dead domestic farm animals," the police report said. Police said that there were dead animals in 18 trash bags and five paper bags.

According to the police report, the discovery of the dead animals this past weekend comes several months after residents at the apartment complex first began noticing a "decaying smell" in November 2021.

However, the police report said that the smell went away after residents first noticed it last year, but the smell returned once again more recently.

"This time, it was coming from the wooded area in the rear of the neighborhood. About two days ago, an unidentified neighbor was walking their dog and noticed a black trash bag with an animal leg sticking out," the police report said.

The police report stated that the bags of the dead animals were found roughly 15 to 20 feet into the wooded area, which is located next to the apartment complex. In one portion of the wooded area, officers discovered five plastic trash bags which contained one to three animal carcasses each.

"Based on the fallen foliaged and state of decomposition, those carcasses were likely dumped sometime in autumn through early spring of 2021-2022. Inside of the bags were bones and decayed body matter. One bag had a small [mammal-like] skull with bones, the others had [chicken-like] bones," the police report said. "Due to the prolonged decomposition, Animal Control did not collect any carcasses from this location."

In another area, which was located near the apartment complex's parking lot, officers discovered 13 additional trash bags and five paper bags.

"Most of the bags contained about 3-5 adult chickens," the police report said. In addition to those were pigeons, goats, and a small pig. The goats, chickens, and pigeons were headless.

"Some of the detached heads were in bags, or in the area...", the report said. "Animal Control arrived and collected most of the carcasses from the second area."

According to the police report, after discovering the bags of dead animals, officers were notified by a resident that two "suspicious" vehicles were recently seen in the apartment's parking lot. However, no arrests have been made at this time and the investigation remains ongoing.

Residents on Alert

Shortly after some local news outlets in Georgia reported the incident, several community members voiced their concerns on social media.

"That's a born killer," one said, adding, "scary."

"Can we say SERIAL KILLER in the making! Hope they find this monster!" one person commented on the Athens-Banner Herald Facebook post.

"I hope they can get some fingerprints off those bags. This is a red flag," said another.

Another individual voiced concern in a comment responding to WSB-TV's reporting on the incident, writing "most likely serial killer. The animals were found small to big and heads missing indication the killer is evolving with prey and is working their way to humans and the head removal is for souvenirs of their victims."

"omg! why?! This is why I glance at every garbage bag I pass to see if it's moving or has the shape of a body. It's a crazy world we live in!" said another shocked commenter.

Others suggested animal sacrifice as a part of religious activity.

"So you either have someone/group performing animal sacrifices or a potential sociopath/psychopath. Neither is good," said a viewer on WSBTV's Facebook page.