By KAITLYN ALANIS

Staff writer

A 4-Her from Abilene is still hopeful her missing show heifer is going to show up alive and well thanks to the Marion County support she and her grandfather Ben Freeman have received.

Lauren Freeman, 15, took her 4-H show heifer, Rosslend, to the Mike Ehrlich farm north of Marion for a hoof trimming July 28, but Rosslend spooked and ran away.

Since then, the Freemans have received several calls of found heifers, but Rosslend has not been one of them.

“We’ve had no luck, but numerous tries,” Ben Freeman said. “We actually thought we had a lead (Tuesday) at the (Hillsboro) animal clinic, but it ended up being the neighbors. It almost always ends up being a neighbor’s heifer. But it means people are still aware and looking out.”

They said they are hoping Rosslend will be found once ranchers start gathering their cattle in the fall.

“Lauren is sad, but she realizes there is still a lot of possibility her heifer will be found,” Freeman said. “All this support just really makes us feel good. It brings you a lot of hope in people because they’re really trying and they feel for Lauren, especially since it’s her 4-H project.”

The Freemans said they have received more support from people of the county than they ever would have hoped for, including a volunteer flying his airplane over the creek where Rosslend went missing. People have also kayaked through the creek, walked up and down the nearby fields, and used a drone to cover hundreds of acres, but all without any luck.

Rickey Roberts, Marion County extension agent, said it is possible the heifer is still alive and well.

“The heifer very easily could still be there in those woods and by the creek, so it’d have water and stuff it could eat,” Roberts said.

His only concern is that Rosslend was wearing a halter when she was spooked.

“The biggest unknown is that collar,” Roberts said. “It’s possible it could have caught on something, or she could have slipped from it and it’s not a problem. I just don’t know what would have happened with that.”

Rosslend is an 800-pound black Simmental and was last seen wearing a purple halter. She had a metal tag in her right ear and identifying tattoo in her left ear.

Freeman can be reached at (785) 479-3770.