LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Authorities have recovered the body of local veterinarian Dr. Shawn Frehner.
According to the National Parks Service, a body was discovered Friday near the Boulder Islands within the Lake Mead recreation area.
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The next day, the Clark County Coroner's Office confirmed this person was Shawn Frehner.
Frehner was missing for nearly two weeks, and the disappearance came amid a social media firestorm over a video taken while he was treating a young horse in Pahrump.
Channel 13 obtained video of the incident. Warning: this may be graphic for some viewers.
This launched a firestorm of accusations against Dr. Frehner of animal abuse after he was seen allegedly choking and kicking a horse he was treating.
Since then, hundreds of messages and reviews of his business have been posted on social media. Some were defending him, but many were angry and hostile, calling for his license to be stripped and some even threatening his life.
President of the Clark County Western Heritage Foundation and member of the Barrel Racing Association Tilly Jenski says she owns five horses and has used Dr. Frehner's services several times.
She says she is heartbroken about his death, and equally saddened by what occurred in the days before he died.
“What is happening that people you know were so malicious that they would cause harm, they would want to cause harm to him and his family," said Jenski. “I pray that we can use this as a stark reminder that life is precious, we are all human, we all make mistakes.”
Jenski says the Barrel Racing Association is looking into honoring Dr. Frehner during its annual memorial race next year.
Frehner had last been heard from on April 6, according to his father Rex, who later filed a missing person's report for his son.
Shawn's wallet, keys, and cell phone were found in his unoccupied truck left near Lake Mead. Rex said he didn't know why his son would have gone there since he doesn't have a boat.
Jenski tells Channel 13, Frehner was one of only a small handful of equine vets in the Las Vegas Valley.
