Authorities are investigating a grisly discovery made by a family in a ditch near Caesar Creek State Park.

The torso of a dismembered pony was found wrapped in a tarp near Hormel and Buck Run roads, on the northeast edge of the park.

The resident who found and reported it, a horse owner who preferred to remain anonymous, said she had driven by it for several days and didn’t know what it was until she asked her grandchildren to check it out.

She said the pony was sorrel, reddish brown with white spots, and appeared to have been well-cared for.

“The fact that there was no blood. The fact that it was wrapped up in a tarp and tied, it was intentional,” she said. “It did not appear to be malnourished. It wasn’t thin. I have to assume it was killed and dismembered somewhere else.”

The discovery was reported Feb. 23 and detectives have talked to dozens of people and checked reports of missing ponies or horses, said Col Brian Prickett of the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office.

Prickett said leads have dwindled and investigators don’t know where the animal’s torso came from or where the rest of it may be.

He said it is illegal to dump animal carcases alongside the road.

The grandmother said she has seen other dead animals dumped along roads near her rural home, but never of the equine variety.

“I can’t imagine why someone would do such a thing,” she said.

To provide a tip, call the sheriff’s office at (937) 382-1611.