Police in the American state of Georgia are probing a bizarre mystery that appears to be connected with a voodoo-type cult.
The headless bodies of goats, apparently sacrificed as part of a religious ritual, have been turning up in the Chattahoochee River. Environmentalist Jason Ulseth says that in recent weeks he has seen as many as thirty headless goat courses floating in the river at a time.
He told Channel 2 Action News that it’s a growing problem.
“Over the past couple of years, I’ve seen a couple hundred, but never more than 20 to 30 at one given time like we’ve started to see here lately,” he said.
The bizarre occult sacrifices are even happening in broad daylight. One witness managed to capture a video of a dead goat being thrown into the river from a bridge.
Footage shows the goat’s body hitting the water with an enormous splash.
“He actually hears the body splashing down, not only in the middle of the night, but he told me he hears them in the middle of the day,” Jason said.
“This is drinking water for 5 million people, and we all have to do our part to take care of it,” he went on.
The best theory so far is that the goats are being sacrificed by followers of Santeria, a voodoo-style cult that blends Roman Catholic reliefs with West African religion.
One Santeria priest told Channel 2: “We use a he-goat [to celebrate] a victory. Then we use she-goat for the baby… also for the blessing. That is the significance of all these animals that we use.”
Local police currently have no open investigations regarding the bizarre sacrifices, but Jason remains concerned.
“These goats have to be coming from somewhere,” he says, “but we haven’t been able to determine who’s buying the goats, who’s providing the goats, or actually how they are making their way here in the river.”
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