Longtime Douglas-area rancher killed
http://www.kgun9.com/Global/story.asp?S=12217645
(KGUN9-TV) - A longtime Cochise County cattle rancher was killed on his Douglas-area ranch, authorities confirmed. Rob Krentz was 58.
Tucson Sector Border Patrol spokesman Omar Candelaria said Sunday morning that Rob Krentz was found dead on his property northeast of Douglas at 1 a.m. Sunday.
At 3:15 p.m. on Sunday, the hunt for the suspect continued in the area.
Candelaria said the lead agency on the homicide is the Cochise County Sheriff's Department.
Carol Capas, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's department confirmed it was Krentz who was killed.
The Border Patrol is "assisting with resources and manpower," Candelaria said.
Neighbors of the Krentz's said a Border Patrol helicopter was in the air early Sunday looking for a suspect or suspects on the ranch. Others said the hunt for a suspect was being conducted also on horseback by experienced trackers from the area.
Krentz's ranch and family were inducted into the Arizona Farming and Ranching Hall of Fame in 2008.
The 100-year-old Krentz ranch was founded by Julius and Emma Krentz, who homesteaded the ranch at the turn of the 20th Century. The 35,000-acre ranch includes about 1,000 head of cattle, according to a story in the Douglas Dispatch in 2008.
Water on the ranch has helped create a wildlife habitat of some 25,000 acres for deer, javelina, mountain lion, antelope, dove and quail, according to that story.
Ranchers in the area who belong to a neighborhood alert group were notified by telephone about the incident. One rancher, Bill Wilbur, said he is wearing his pistol for protection.
Krentz was active in Arizona cattlegrowing organizations and he and his family support 4-H and the Future Farmers of America. Water on the ranch has helped create a wildlife habitat of some 25,000 acres for deer, javelina, mountain lion, antelope, dove and quail, according to that story.
Krentz was active in Arizona cattlegrowing organizations and he and his family support 4-H and the Future Farmers of America.
No information on the killing had been released by law enforcement agencies by 1:20 p.m. Sunday.
KGUN9's Linda Garrett is on her way to the Douglas area to report the story for KGUN's 5 PM and 10 PM news.