Oregon Humane Society found six sickly horses near Goble Tuesday that had gone missing along with their Rainier owner who is facing animal neglect allegations.

OHS issued an urgent press release the previous day indicating the owner of the horses, Yvonne Byrd-Lynch, had unexpectedly moved the horses from her property located in the 29000 block of Gregory Road in Rainier.

The animals are now under care of Sound Equine Options, a nonprofit that cares for neglected and abandoned horses.

Officials have still not located Byrd-Lynch.

OHS officers cited Byrd-Lynch in May for animal neglect after a severely undernourished horse she owned was discovered on her property. That animal later died and the citation was forwarded to the Columbia County District Attorney’s Office for review.

Tuesday morning, when The Spotlight was going to press, OHS spokesperson David Lytle said he was cautiously optimistic the six horses would soon be found. He said his agency received a number of tips.

Lytle said the six horses that went missing were not considered at-risk when they were observed in the spring. He said, however, that Byrd-Lynch became a person of interest to the agency and that the health of her animals was being monitored.

Sharon Harmon, OHS executive director, said there was an urgency to locate the six at-risk horses considering lingering high temperatures and the animals compromised health.

“We need to move quickly to protect the health of these horses,” she said in the Monday press release. “Their poor health, combined with the recent high temperatures, means that their lives are at risk.”

Photos of the six horses — two pinto foals, two bay mares, one white stallion and one buckskin mare — accompanied the press release. The photos portray emaciated, sickly horses, rib cages and hipbones apparent under stretched skin. In one, a pinto foal is attempting to nurse from a skeletal mare.