Police suspect that a missing Kentucky woman may have been eaten by the dozens of hybrid wolf-dogs she kept at her home, after officials discovered a human skull and jawbone there over the weekend.
Neighbors called police on Saturday and reported that Patricia Ritz, who was believed to have been 67 years old, "hadn't been feeling well and they hadn't seen her for about a week and a half, to two weeks or so,"
Ohio County Sheriff David Thompson told WFIE 14 News.
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Officers were dispatched to the woman's Fordsville, Ky., home, where they found more than 50 hybrid wolf-dogs roaming the property, a human skull, and a jawbone — both of which were thought to be Ritz's.
The remains were sent off to be tested.
Ritz reportedly had a history of animal cruelty charges. According to WFIE, she was once cited for possessing 184 dogs, 159 of which had to be euthanized because of poor health and temperament problems.
Many of the wolf-dogs recovered from Ritz's property were malnourished puppies, a few were "extremely pregnant," and some were dead, officials told WFIE.
Local animal control officers are working to get the animals to a sanctuary where, hopefully, they can get the care they need.
"I think it was just one lady that really wanted to save them all," Tracey Ward, a county animal control officer, told WFIE. "When you don't spay and neuter, they're going to breed. It's not going to be just one or two puppies, it's going to be seven, nine, 12."
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