Police are pursuing multiple leads in the hunt for those responsible for the theft of five rodeo horses from Southern Arkansas University.

Credit Card's pictures from netposse.com.

The horses were stolen from the university's Mulerider stables, along with tack and a horse transporter, overnight on November 2.

Four of the horses were recovered alive, but a 15-year-old sorrel quarter horse named Credit Cardwas found dead.

University spokesman Jeremy Langley told Horsetalk today: "The investigation is ongoing. The police are pursuing multiple leads. We do expect arrests. There is no time line on when that might take place."

The horse were located in McCurtain County, Oklahoma, which Langley said was about a two-hour drive from the Mulerider stables.

Langley said the university's police chief, Eric Plummer, was the lead investigator in the inquiry, and was working closely with Arkansas State Police.

He said the McCurtain County Sheriff's Department was conducting inquiries in their Oklahoma jurisdiction.

It has been a rollercoaster ride of emotions for those whose horses were stolen in the raid. The horses are owned by students who are members of the university's nationally competitive rodeo team.

The livestock trailer was recovered the day after the theft, and eight days after the horses went missing the McCurtain County Sheriff's Department recovered some of the saddles, blankets and other tack.

It was 13 days after the night-raid that the first four horses were recovered.

The university's rodeo coach, Rusty Hayes, located the animals in a wooded area near Tom - Grey, a seven-year-old gray mare; Badger, a 14-year-old black gelding; Lena, a 14-year-old buckskin mare; and a 10-year-old black mare simply called "Black Mare".

No-one was with the horses when they were found.

Langley said the horses were tied to trees. He understood the wooded area was private property.

Last Friday, the remains of Credit Card were located in McCurtain County.

Got information? Contact the SAU Police Department at (870) 235-4100 or Arkansas State Police Investigator Hays McWhirter at (870) 703-2065.

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Resource: horsetalk.co.nz