Dog
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Twin Falls, Idaho - Idaho authorities are investigating the mysterious disappearances of nearly 40 dogs, including one that died in a suspected ritual killing.

Reuters reports the dogs have gone missing over the past few months in the Magic Valley region.

"The dogs seem to vanish into thin air," Debbie Blackwood, director of the Twin Falls animal shelter, told Reuters. The dogs have reportedly been lured into vans and never seen again.

"They saw them loading them in their vehicle," Blackwood told KPVI-TV. "They let their little dog out, next thing she knows a red van pulls up and she has to race out and retrieve it, an older person in the dark."

One German shepherd was found with its head crushed with a stone and its body covered with a purple blanket in what authorities say was a "ritualistic execution." Other dogs were found with their mouths duct-taped shut and their teeth filed off.

John Goodwin, head of animal cruelty policy for the Humane Society, told Reuters that these dogs were most likely not used for dog-fighting.

The Humane Society has offered a $5,000 reward for information that leads to the missing dogs.