Lodi woman pleads for safe return of two missing horses

A woman in Lodi is pleading for help after two of her horses disappeared nearly a week ago. After extensive searches, she's worried someone stole them. 

"It's been now six days and not a single person has even seen them, like on the side of the road, nothing," Trina Homer said.

Two of her beloved horses vanished without a trace.

"There's no reason for them to be wandering off that far like at all," she continued.

Homer, a Lodi local, is now pleading for their safe return.

"I take very good care of my animals. They're my whole world," she said. "This has to be hands down the worst thing I've ever experienced owning a horse."

Chip and Angus are the two horses that have been missing since Saturday afternoon. 

They both have distinctive markings. Chip has a scar on his hip and Angus has white spots.

They were last spotted on a family property in the Acampo area near the intersection of Lower Sacramento and Woodland Road. There's been no sign of them since.

Homer worries they were stolen to be sold at an auction.

"I did contact three rescues. That's what they do. They go save horses from those auction yards, and they're they said they look for them," she explained. "I know that some of those auctions, you have kill buyers who go and they'll buy the ones that are cheap and then they ship them out of the United States."

If you know horses, Homer said they don't wander far. Their search has been extensive, from the ground on horseback to drones in the sky.

This isn't only heartbreaking for Homer, but for the countless youth who come to Lodi for her summer camp through Trina Homer's Horsemanship. They look forward to spending time with Chip and Angus every year.

"That's my thing. If you stole from some adults, whatever. You took them from all my lesson kids," Homer said. "That's what bothers me the most. I hate telling my kids I can't. I don't even like to call my kids and tell them that they are sick or hurt or they can't be ridden. I hate it."

She's all but begging for their safe return.

"Just bring them back. I'll give you your money and go about your day and then you don't ever have to talk to me again," Homer said. "We'll pretend like it never happened." 

An anonymous donation was made to provide a reward for the horses' return. Homer says whoever has these horses will make more money from the reward than trying to sell them elsewhere.

She has also filed an official stolen horse report with the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office.