OLYMPIA, Wash. -- A 12th mutilated cat was found in Thurston County on Tuesday and is believed linked to the others that have been carved up and displayed in public by a suspected serial cat killer, according to KCPQ.
The manner, appearance and staging of the cat is "consistent" with the other mutilations, Olympia Police Lt. Sam Costello said.
The most recent cat was found in Olympia at noon on Tuesday. Costello said this occurred at a business. Workers there left at 5 p.m. on Monday, and the body must have been left between then and noon Tuesday, he said.
The cat had the "same degree of carving, surgical-type mutilations" that make it consistent with others, Costello said.
All the cats have been "splayed out" in a manner that could only be caused by a human, he said, adding that the cats appear to be "posed."
The reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person mutilating cats in Thurston County was increased to $30,000, authorities said Friday
Thurston County Animal Services is the primary investigator, but all agencies are working on the case.
In many of the other killings, the cats were sliced open with a knife or scalpel and their spines were removed. The dead animals were then left in a public setting.
Last Thursday, the Thurston County Sheriff's Office said it had assigned a major crimes detective to work with the various, previously assigned investigators from other agencies "to solve this disturbing serial crime spree."
"TCSO is extremely concerned that such a predator/s is lurking and committing such vile crimes within our community," the sheriff's office said in a news release last Thursday. "TCSO will expend every available resource to solve these serial crimes and bring the perpetrator to justice."
