Former camp employee charged in theft of horses

Wednesday, January 19th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) -- A former Camp Cimarron employee is one of two people charged with the December theft of three horses, saddle and tack taken from the camp used by the Camp Fire Boys and Girls. Jennifer Goff Campbell, 24, and Richard Lee Vanbuskirk, 28, were charged Tuesday in Payne County District Court with three counts each of larceny of a domestic animal and one of burglary.

Ms. Campbell had worked for the camp near Coyle, court records showed. Punky, Savannah and Pass-em, three horses valued at about $10,000, were reported missing from the camp Dec. 18. Five saddles, 12 bridles and nine saddle blankets were taken. The tack was valued at about $5,000.

The Payne County Sheriff's Office found that thieves cut a chain off a gate to drive onto the camp property and then cut a padlock off a door to a horse barn and tack room. At least two trips with a wheelbarrow were used to haul the items to the vehicle, an affidavit says. A man told authorities he and his father helped a man and a woman get a vehicle out of mud hole about 3 a.m. one morning. The horses and some of the tack were found in Oklahoma City on Dec. 21 in a search of Vanbuskirk's property. Ms. Campbell and Vanbuskirk also face charges in Oklahoma County for horse thefts there.