Families plead for help after trailer, animals stolen from Houston motel

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Houston police are looking for the thief or thieves who stole an SUV and trailer full of livestock which was to be shown this week by students from north Texas at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

The rip-off happened at some point between 8-10pm Tuesday night at the Motel 6 in the 3200 block of South Loop West.

Rebecca Lambert and her father are from Paradise, Texas. They drove in Tuesday and went to bed, discovering the crime when they woke up around 2am Wednesday to get the animals prepared for the day.

"I have been out in the barn six hours a day, every day, seven days a week. No ifs ands or buts about," said 14-year-old theft victim Rebecca Lambert.

She has worked more than a year with the lamb she had hoped to show. "I feel worse about the other people's animals than my own, because they trusted me enough to let it come all the way from the Dallas area. All the way up there ... and I feel so bad that I let them down," said Lambert.

A family is looking for their stolen animals and trailer taken from their southwest Houston hotel

In all, four lambs and two goats were stolen -- a total of six projects from six students destined for the livestock show. They were to weigh in today.

"In a way I want to kick something, in a way I want to cry. I don't know what to feel. I really don't," said theft victim Darrell Lambert.

Neither do the youngest of the victims, like Evan Sylvester, age 9. "I think that they're just being selfish and not being very kind and nice. ... It's like losing your favorite dog," said Sylvester.

The animals will only survive a day or two without water. "I'm more sad than anything. I just want it to be returned," said Rebecca Lambert.

There appear to be no surveillance cameras on the side of the motel where the theft happened.

The SUV which was stolen is a white 2004 Chevy Tahoe. The trailer is a 2012 Jackson, low profile with generator and air conditioner.

If you know anything about the animals or the whereabouts of the people who took them, police ask that you call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS to report it.