Pet owners on high alert near Buckeye Lake after pets found floating in water

HEBRON, Ohio - A gruesome discover in Buckeye Lake outside of Columbus has neighbors on high alert.

Dead pets have been found in the water. Police said it's no accident because there are too many to be considered a coincidence.

Buckeye Lake is about 30 miles east of Columbus.

Suzy Spencer's cat went missing several weeks ago. A few days later, a neighbor who was fishing on the lake found it dead in the water.

"Once it was in the bag for a while, there was a big pool of blood that probably came off the fur," neighbor Dave Kanz said. "Somebody had hit it, kicked it or whatever. It was obvious. Somebody's being real cruel."

Another neighbor's cat is missing and a small dog was found drowned. Spencer has lived on the lake for 17 years and said she has not seen or heard of incidents like this.

"Occasionally, you'll see something dead in the lake. But it's an occasional thing. It's once a summer, maybe not five animals in a matter of two or three weeks," Spencer said.

On May 6, a small dog was found trapped in a spillway, but police helped rescue the dog. Police are investigating, but so far have made no arrests.