Despite hundreds of tips, police on Friday were trying to locate the 9-month-old missing Bengal tiger last seen in the neighborhood of Houston – as ‘Tiger King’ star Carol Baskin offered a $ 5,000 reward for the safe return of the big cat Was announced.
Commander of the Major Offenders Division of the Houston Police Department, Ron Borza, said Friday that so far investigators have died in search of a male tiger named Bharat.
“Latest, uh, we don’t know,” Borza Told reporters When asked about the possible location of the endangered cat on Friday, he said that police had received 300 phone calls to his possible location.
However, none of them have inspired India to track them down, Borja said.
“We’ve been to a few places here in Houston, and we haven’t had any luck finding the tiger yet,” Borza said.
“Some suggestions from the public have gone crazy,” Boza said.
“Too many scenes that haven’t come before us,” Borza told reporters. “And like I said, we know a group of people who are involved in the exotic animal trade here in Houston. We deal with them all the time… we have met them all and have no luck so far.”
Borza said he believed India had been “passed” around six or eight times since he was last seen on Sunday, along with 26-year-old Victor Hugo Cuevas, who was arrested on Monday on charges of arrest. Was arrested when police tried to interrogate him. About the tiger.
“I don’t think it’s out of Houston yet, maybe out of the county, but I don’t think so,” Borza said. “I think it’s still here in Houston.”
Meanwhile, Baskin, who runs Big Cat Rescue in Florida, is offering a $ 5K reward for India’s safe return.
The animal must be turned into a recognized organization with the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries and the person suggesting to investigators must give information to the police to convict the tiger’s buyer and seller. Told the Houston Chronicle.
“Fixing the problem is putting people in jail who are buying and selling these cats,” Baskin told the newspaper on Thursday.
It is unclear how Cuevas came into possession of the tiger, but Borza said he believes the man bought it from a woman in Houston who was involved in the exotic animal trade, which police know.
“But I’m not sure,” Borza said. “I don’t know if he was just caring for the tiger or actually bought it because many times when we’re going after people dealing with exotic animals, they pass those animals home with them Let’s start this business which is involved in this. “
Borza also accused Cuevas and his lawyer, Michael W. Elliott, of being uncooperative with investigators in the ongoing search for India.
Cuevas, who was released from the Fort Bend County Jail on Wednesday, appeared for a hearing Friday in Fort Bend County, where prosecutors hoped to revoke his bond in the 2017 murder case.
“So I’m hoping that happens and maybe if he goes to jail, he’ll be more allies with us,” Borza said.
Asked if the authorities had leveraged their legal troubles to leverage on Cuevas, Borja said that it was yet to take shape.
“But we’re still going to work on that,” Borja said.
Elliott told The Post on Tuesday that he had informed the Houston police about finding India, while Cuevas did not have the animal. Elliott refused to discuss his client’s possible relationship with the big cat.
“He’s not the boss,” Elliott said. “He doesn’t have a tiger.”
Elliot Told the Houston Chronicle Before Friday’s hearing that Cuevas “likes this tiger very much” and sometimes looks after it.
Leave a Reply