By admin 
FORT PIERCE, Fla. (CBS12) — Several horses in our viewing area have done so allegedly stolen from Okeechobee and St. Lucie counties.
Okie, a horse that belonged to Melanie Stavert’s family in Fort Pierce, was stolen late last week.
‘We are devastated. My kids are so upset,” she told CBS12 News. “We hope to see Okie again someday, but with each passing day the chances become smaller and smaller.
She wasn’t the only one.
Matt Johnson’s family in Okeechobee also lost their three horses: Winchester, Ben and Scout.
“It’s like they already knew my property… these two gates were chained together with a heavy duty cable lock and it was just cut,” Johnson said, gesturing to the gates on his property. “All they did was go on our property, cut through our front gate, cut through the second gate, let the horses out, or pony them out, and then cut the fence across the street, and walked into this large piece of land opposite us.
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The Okeechobee and St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Offices are actively investigating these cases.
“This kind of crime is sick. It affects many people. It is clear that these people do not have good intentions,” Stavert noted.
“The fact that there were so many sightings in our tri-state and quad-state area makes me believe this is a bigger problem than just an isolated incident,” Johnson added.
Investigators are keeping their eyes peeled to see if these thefts are related.
As for these families and the local horse community, they hope their horses are safe.
“I think part of me has to believe that I will see the horses again,” Johnson said.
“We know that someone knows something, so we are hopeful that someone will come forward,” Stavert hopes.
Both the St. Lucie and Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Offices hope to find these four horses and return them to their rightful owners.
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