Charlene Raines, 85 of Ozark, wakes up before the sun rises most days. She gets dressed, makes her way to her truck, stops at Wendy’s for breakfast and then journeys to her farm near Nixa where she raises nearly 20 cows.
It’s what she’s done most of her life, it’s her routine, her livelihood.
“I know I’m getting old,” Raines said. “But I can still work.”
However, recently things have changed and now she does all that armed with two pistols and two rifles.
“I usually only carry a pistol, but with what’s been going on I’ve felt the need for extra protection,” Raines said.
Since the beginning of the year, Raines has been dealing with a problem all farmers dread, cattle rustlers, also known as cattle thieves. Over the last month, Raines said seven of her 12 calves have gone missing and are presumed stolen.
“In all these years I’ve never had this issue,” she said.
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How Charlene Raines discovered the missing calves, items from her farm
It started in early February when Raines noticed a fence down on the north side of her property.
“There were 20 or so feet of fencing down,” she said. “It took me a while to notice it.”
From there, she began to notice that a number of her calves were going missing, until she only had five left of the original 12 she had planned to raise this year.
“They were tiny so they could just pick them up and walk off,” Raines said. “Plus I’m so cuddly and love on my cows that they’re very friendly and willing to go with people.”
Additionally, Raines said that 150 pounds of salt blocks, a snack cattle often enjoy, as well as a game camera she put up after the cattle started to go missing, and other equipment has also been taken.
“They’re stealing everything from me,” she said. “It’s disgusting and terrifying.”
Raines said people often think when cattle go missing it’s the work of coyotes, but she doesn’t believe that’s the case due to the number of other things that have been stolen off her property.
The missing cattle and equipment pose a significant financial hit for Raines, who said that some of the calves, one of which was a bull, when grown could be sold for $2,000 apiece.
“It’s hard to put an exact number on it,” she said. “But it adds up when you consider what you can get from cows, especially female ones. Let’s say you have four female calves one year and then they each have a baby the next year, now you have eight. What they took is really the possibility of future cattle.”
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Cows are ‘like my family’ and worth more than money
But for Raines, who doesn’t have any children, her missing cattle are more than dollar signs to her.
“This isn’t about the money for me,” she said. “I love my animals. I don’t have any family left. I lost my husband at 24 and then my daughter died. They are like my family.”
Raines said cows are not really all that different from dogs, and she treats them more like pets than items potentially for sale.
“You can pet them, you can play with them,” she said. “They’re fun and I love playing with them.”
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What’s being done to help Charlene Raines?
Raines said she has contacted the Christian County Sheriff’s Office who is investigating the thefts, but so far no leads have surfaced.
According to Lt. Blake Davis with the Christian County Sheriff’s Office, the crime of cattle rustling, which carries a punishment of up to 10 years in prison and a fine up to $20,000 in Missouri, is not as common as people think and easier to investigate than people would expect.
“All these farmers know each other,” Davis said. “They go to the same auctions with the same people. Some can even tell whose cattle are whose just by looking at them and can tell if something is off. It’s not necessarily a church, but kind of similar.”
However, Davis added that they do not have any leads on Raines’ missing cattle.
“I don’t blame the police,” Raines said. “They’re doing all they can.”
Meanwhile, Raines is also doing all she can. She said she’s warned local farm stores to be on the lookout for people buying lots of milk bottles and she also hired a couple of farmers from Kansas City who came down and watched her farm during the night.
“They watched the property for four nights. They did coyote calls and watched for tracks,” she said. “But they didn’t see anything.”
Raines also added that she is willing to give a reward for information on her calves or the return of her livestock.
Anyone with information can contact the Christian County Sheriff’s Office at 417-582-5330.
Jordan Meier covers public safety for the Springfield News-Leader. Contact her at jmeier@news-leader.com, or on Twitter @Jordan_Meier644.