An elderly Ohio woman was mauled to death and partially eaten by her neighbor’s ravenous pigs near her home on Christmas Day.
Rebecca Westergaard Rigney, 75, was found dead with injuries to her leg on the front steps of her home on Mink Street in Pataskala.
The senior lady’s niece raised the alarm of her disappearance after Rigney failed to show up at her home in Norton, Ohio for celebrations.
Responding officials reached Rigney’s property at around 3pm and found a large pig roaming inside.
Officers further discovered at least two pigs at the neighbor’s residence and told the owner the animals will be quarantined until further notice, WBNS reported.
According to the Columbus Dispatch, the victim lived alone in her house.
Police Chief Bruce Brooks later said that more information about her death will be provided once her full autopsy results are completed in about four to six weeks.
He also called the case a ‘horrible, horrible situation’ and confirmed that the situation remains under investigation as there are no clear laws on attacks by farm animals.
‘If it was a pit bull or a Rottweiler, or name any of the other 15 dogs that are deemed semi aggressive, then we would know the answer right away.
‘But being farm animals, it’s just not something we’ve ever dealt with here,’ he told the Dispatch.
Brooks also clarified that he was unsure what will happen to the pigs and his department has been in contact with the Licking County Prosecutors’ Office.
As of now, the Licking County Coroner’s Office said Rigney died from bleeding out due to extensive superficial injuries by livestock animals and ruled her death as accidental.
The coroner said the elderly woman had prior health conditions with her heart and she was on blood thinners.
Officials are yet to name the owner of the wild animals and clarify if they will be charged criminally.
David Mullings, a neighbor, said the incident is confusing and wild.
‘It’s pretty crazy and wild. There are not wild pigs roaming. I’ve never seen pigs besides from the market down the street. It’s very confusing.
‘It would be nice to get clarification on what actually happened. What’s going on in our neighborhood?,’ he told WBNS.
This comes days after a three-year-old girl was killed in a vicious dog attack while visiting her father’s Ohio apartment.
The panicked father called Cincinnati police on December 27 after he discovered blood all over his living room.
His toddler daughter, Kingsley Wright, was already dead on the ground.
‘My baby is dead,’ he told the dispatcher. ‘This has got to be a f***ing nightmare.’
The Hamilton County Coroner’s Office ruled that little Kingsley was mauled by the family’s three dogs, The Enquirer reported.
Kingsley’s mother Gina Smith had taken her from their Wilmington home to her father’s apartment in Roselawn on December 23 to celebrate the holidays.
Smith told WLWT television that Kingsley was spending time with the family for the holidays, but she had no idea that the dogs in the home were dangerous.
She noted Kingsley was staying at the home ‘for the first time ever.’