Body of missing Las Vegas veterinarian accused of kicking horse found
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Officials identified a body found in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area over the weekend as Dr. Shawn Frehner, a high-profile veterinarian who has been missing since April 6.
The National Park Service began a search at Lake Mead after Frehner’s keys, wallet, and cellphone were found in his truck parked at Hemmenway Harbor on April 7. According to NPS, his body was found near the Boulder Islands within the Lake Mead National Recreation Area on April 18.
On April 19, the Clark County coroner’s office confirmed Frehner's identity through dental records. His cause and manner of death were not released, and additional details were not immediately available.
Earlier this month, Frehner apologized and admitted to kicking a horse he had been paid to administer anesthetic shots to at a Nevada property. Frehner issued an apology after video of the incident went viral.
“I did not blatantly haul off and kick this horse as it appears in the video. That was not my intention at all,” Frehner wrote. “It was done simply to get the horse in a better position so that he could breathe and get up and move so I could again try to anesthetize.”
“But yes, I did kick him right in the chin, and I very much do apologize and wish this never happened,” he wrote.
In his apology, Frehner said he was attempting to reposition the horse. He was the subject of an investigation by Nye County deputies for animal cruelty following a complaint from the horse’s owner.
Another video obtained by Nexstar's KLAS showed Frehner flushing a horse’s nose with a syringe, a normal practice. Shortly after, he was seen jabbing the horse in the face.
According to a missing person report filed the day after he disappeared, Frehner's father, Rex, told police the last time he spoke with Shawn was on Sunday, April 6, and his son told him he was having a hard time with one of the horses.
Records KLAS obtained showed the Nevada State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners placed Frehner’s license on probation in 2016. He agreed to a year-long license suspension.
The reasons for discipline included handwriting his medical records onto the back of invoices or call logs. He also gave prescription medicine to clients in “plastic baggies,” without verifying how much medicine was handed out.