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Crime, Law and Justice
MPR News Staff and The Associated Press

Police find remains of St. Paul school’s ‘beloved’ goat after animal went missing

Goat head
Hazelnut's remains were found Friday.
Lynn Overvoorde via AP

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Updated: 7 p.m.

Hazelnut was one of three goats kept at the Great River School in St. Paul, not far from the State Fairgrounds, part the Montessori school’s small herd of livestock — what students and staff call a micro farm.

School officials said the two-year-old goat disappeared June 26, when security footage showed an unidentified person lifting her from her pen and carrying her away.

Hazelnut was trained as a pack animal, walked with people, responded to her name and was very sociable, the school said.

St. Paul police found the goat’s remains Friday in an alley off LaFond Avenue, about two and a half miles away from the school.

School officials initially offered a reward for her return. Now, they’ve started a GoFundMe page, trying to raise $15,000 to keep their other two goats and secure them from thieves.

No arrests have been reported, but the incident is under investigation. The investigation found a “high likelihood” the goat is the one stolen from the Great River School, according to a police sergeant.

The school has an animal care program that includes chickens and a garden students help look after. The school added three goats at the start of the last school year, in hopes of a larger project in which children learn to milk the goats and sell their milk or cheese to learn about economics, according to school volunteer Lynn Overvoorde.

“These goats have really become an ingrained part of the community, they’re more than just farm animals to us,” Overvoorde said.

The school had shared a flyer on Facebook that offered a $500 reward for finding the “beloved animal.”