Westmoreland County taxidermist under investigation after customers report unfulfilled orders
A Westmoreland County taxidermist is under investigation by the Pennsylvania State Police after multiple customers report they've never received their animal after years of waiting.
State police conducted a search warrant on Dec. 22, 2025, at Forever Ridge Taxidermy in Bradenville, Derry Township.
Trooper Steve Limani said they found multiple animals inside, some that were not stored properly, and all without documentation stating who they belong to.
"Anybody that did business with Forever Ridge Taxidermy, we believe this stems back from as far back as 2021 to 2025," Limani said.
KDKA Investigates talked to several victims last year who reported dropping off animals or fish to the taxidermist and putting down a deposit but never receiving their mounts after years of waiting.
"For some of the people, they took it very personal. It's like the first deer that their child shot. It's a prize possession," Limani said.
Eric Hagerty said he's been waiting for over two years for his coyote mount.
"I started giving him frequent texts and phone calls. That went on for about two and a half years and I ended up never getting a word from him," Hagerty said.
Amanda Newill said her son won a free fish mount over two years ago and that the owner of Forever Ridge Taxidermy "promised" the mount would be completed in one year.
"At first, he gave the runaround story of, 'oh, the scales fell off. I'm waiting for a replica.' Months later it was a different story, then months after that, there was just no communication or responding to calls or texts," Newill said.
"He fell off the face of the earth," Hagerty said.
KDKA Investigates reached out to the owner of Forever Ridge Taxidermy who had a voicemail set up saying, "Thank you for calling Forever Ridge Taxidermy. Unfortunately, we are not accepting any new clients at this time. Current clients, I will be in contact with you as soon as your trophy is on a mounting stand. I will not be returning phone calls or texts until I get caught up."
"The people that were lodging complaints with us, it started to head into the thousands of dollars," Limani said.
Hagerty told KDKA that he did ask for the hide back from his coyote and for his money back. He said he paid over $700 in a deposit.
"It makes me sick to my stomach to know that he has about 50-grand-plus in people's money," Hagerty said.
KDKA Investigates reached out to taxidermists from across the region. Most reported 10 to 12 months is a standard timeline to preserving an animal and mounting for customers. Some pushed that timeline back to 12 to 18 months, citing product shortage, tannery backups and a worker shortage.
"There's a little bit of a lag time, however, from talking to our victims and looking at the records we have, the lag time is well outside of what somebody would consider reasonable," Limani said.
KDKA Investigates got in touch with the owner last year, who reported getting behind on orders due to personal setbacks and his mental well-being. According to his business social media page, Forever Ridge Taxidermy stopped taking orders in September 2023.
The owner, who KDKA-TV is not identifying as charges have not been filed against him, also said he planned to shut down his business once all his orders were completed. He estimated that would be in March or April of this year.
State police said the animals are now in possession of the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
"There's a multitude of different types of animals," Limani said. "It would help our investigation tremendously when it comes to finding out what to do with these animals and how to get them back to their rightful owners, and then, if they're salvageable, to still have taxidermy worked under them. I would implore anybody that was involved with that organization that did not get compensated or did not get their animal back to please contact the state police in Greensburg. Our number is 724-832-3288."