‘Did you say a dead cat?’ And I said, ‘No sir, a dead cow. C-o-w, cow.’"

[Danzig]

"I said, ‘This is Peggy Crane and there’s a dead cow in the county administration building parking lot,’" she said. "And he said, ‘Did you say a dead cat?’ And I said, ‘No sir, a dead cow. C-o-w, cow.’"

Dead cow dumped in parking lot

C. Clark Ballew
Culpeper Star Exponent
Wednesday, January 21, 2004


In the mid-1980s, a popular television advertisement for the Wendy’s fast-food restaurant chain spawned a widespread catch phrase: Where’s the beef?

Well, on Monday morning, Culpeper County Deputy Clerk Peggy Crane found it.

Crane stumbled upon a dead, rotting, mud-covered cow in the county administrative office parking lot, presumably dropped off by a resident who had a beef with the county.

The cow was left at the far end of the lot, in the parking spot usually occupied by county Planning Director John Egertson. Because one of the county-owned vehicles was left in the lot over the weekend, the carcass was obscured from view from West Spencer Street.

It was not found until Crane stopped by the administration building at 7:30 a.m. to get a little head start on some looming paperwork.

"It was lying out there just as nice, with her head sticking out facing me," Crane said. "I started rubbing my eyes thinking I was seeing things, but I knew it was a dead cow because she was stinking."

Crane said that when she dialed 911 to report the bizarre occurrence, the dispatcher seemed befuddled.

"I said, ‘This is Peggy Crane and there’s a dead cow in the county administration building parking lot,’" she said. "And he said, ‘Did you say a dead cat?’ And I said, ‘No sir, a dead cow. C-o-w, cow.’"

After alerting authorities, Crane said she called County Administrator Frank Bossio, who was at home in Warrenton enjoying his day off due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

"Ironically, I had just come in from helping a neighbor who was dealing with cows when Peggy called," Bossio said. "She told me there was a dead cow in the parking lot, and I’m just thinking, she’s got to be kidding me."

Though the cow was found in the spot regularly frequented by Egertson’s vehicle, sources familiar with the incident said it may have been intended for Bossio, or just the county government in general.

Bossio called the incident "strange," and said he viewed it as "a range of possibilities from a simple prank to something with very serious implications."

The county administrator did not divulge any insight on who may have wanted to pull such a prank.

"I don’t know," he said. "From here on out, it’s a Sheriff’s Office investigation."

Culpeper County Sheriff H. Lee Hart, whose office is in charge of the investigation because the incident occurred on county grounds, said detectives are actively pursuing the case.

"We are investigating it, looking into it just like any other case, trying to find out why the cow was left there," Hart said.

As of late afternoon Tuesday, no arrest had been made.

Crane said the cow was fully grown and had been tied to a brick fence post with a rope that was noosed around its neck. An adult-sized cow can weigh anywhere from 700 to 1,500 pounds, depending on the breed.

Valley Proteins, a Winchester-based rendering plant, picked up and disposed of the dead cow mid-day Monday. Crane said the service cost the county $50.

Bossio, though serious at times, managed to keep his jovial personality intact Tuesday.

"Starting today, no employees will be permitted to park their cows in the lot on the weekends," he said.