The Disappearance of Shergar

Annie

Reading — Advanced Level
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Shergar was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. After a very successful season in 1981 he was retired to the Ballymany Stud Farm in County Kildare, Ireland. On 8 February 1983, at around 8:30 pm, three men—all armed and wearing masks—entered the house of Jim Fitzgerald, the head groom at Ballymany. One of the intruders told him they were going to take Shergar and that they wanted £2 million for him. Fitzgerald's family were locked into a room while he was taken, at gunpoint, out to Shergar's stable and was told to put the horse in the back of a horsebox.

After the horsebox was driven away Fitzgerald was told to lie on the floor of a van, and his face was covered with a coat. He was driven around for four hours before being released near the village of Kilcock, approximately 20 miles (32 km) from Ballymany. He was given the code phrase "King Neptune", which the gang would use to identify themselves. The men did not say or give any indication of who they were.

Fitzgerald walked on to the next village and called his brother to pick him up. On arrival back at Ballymany, he rang Ghislain Drion to inform him of the theft, and urged him not to call the police because of the threats that had been made. The police force was contacted eight hours after Shergar had been stolen and any possible trail had already gone cold.

Shergar was never found and his kidnappers were never brought to justice.
Source: Wikipedia
  1. What nationality was Shergar?
  2. Was Shergar ever found?
  3. Where was Shergar stored prior to the theft?
  4. What did the kidnappers do to Fitzgerald?
  5. Why weren't police called to report the crime?
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