Religious Rite or Cubs Curse Breaker? Headless Goat Bodies Baffle Police

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, IL — A headless and skinned goat carcass was discovered in an Arlington Heights grocery store parking lot last month was one of a series of recently discovered animal bodies that have police baffled, according to reports.

Arlington Heights police began its investigation after receiving a report about a mutilated goat body Nov. 25 — Black Friday — in the Jewel-Osco parking lot, 440 E. Rand Road, according to The Arlington Cardinal. The skinned carcass — the head sitting next to it — was found by a store employee, the Daily Herald reports.

Police told the Herald that the goat's body appeared as if it had simply been dumped in the lot after being slaughtered at a different location. According to police, there was no evidence at the lot to indicate a motive for why the animal was killed, and no surveillance video captured anything from the scene, the Herald reports.

Despite a lack of clues and solid leads, Arlington Heights police are investigating the matter, the report added.

Last month's gruesome discovery was the first time mangled animal remains have been uncovered around the Chicago area in recent months, particularly in the forest preserves throughout Cook County, according to an investigation by the Chicago Sun-Times and Fox 32 Chicago. Baby goat heads and chicken heads with the eyes gouged have been found in boxes and bags around the woods, the report stated.

Seven decapitated animals — five goats and two chickens — were discovered Dec. 2 near LaBagh Woods forest preserve in Chicago's North Park neighborhood, according to the Herald. The carcass of another headless goat was found in Miller Meadow, near Forest Park, the report added.

County and law enforcement officials, along with residents in the affected areas, have speculated that the corpses are the end results of rituals involved with Santeria, a Caribbean religious practice that's a blend of West African and Catholic traditions, according to the report by the Sun-Times and Fox 32. Signs of those rituals have been found with some of the carcasses, such as body party wrapped in red cloth or bandanas or being placed in small, wooden boxes, the report added.

In the case of the June findings, a witness allegedly called police to report seeing five people clad in white garments sacrificing chickens and roosters, the report stated.

Of course, goats also have a long, troubled history with the Chicago Cubs. In 1945, Billy Sianis, owner of the Billy Goat Tavern owner Billy Sianis and his pet goat were kicked out of Game 4 of the 1945 World Series between the Cubs and the Detroit Tigers at Wrigley Field, according to legend. A furious Sianis then swore the Cubs would never again win a World Series, a "curse" that persisted until this past November when Chicago beat the Cleveland Indians in the Fall Classic.

During this season's playoffs and even after the World Series victory, goats popped up around all manner of Cubs activities. A few were even spotted outside the Friendly Confines during games and at Grant Park for the team's title celebration.

The ultimate expression of curse-breaking involving a goat, however, belongs to Theo Epstein, the Cubs' president of baseball operations and the architect of this season's championship squad. According to reports, Epstein and his front office team ate oven-roasted goat in the Wrigley Field bleachers days after Chicago captured the World Series title.

More via The Arlington Cardinal, the Daily Herald and the Chicago Sun-Times-Fox 32 Chicago

photo by Afifa Afrin | Wikimedia Commons

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