Volunteers and law enforcement personnel are scouring the 2,500-acre Mallet Pond State Park in Central New York in search of three horses spotted roaming the park earlier this month.

Debi Metcalfe, founder of Stolen Horse International Inc., said that on Oct. 19, a group of college students in the park for a field trip spotted the horses. They then filed a report with Stolen Horse International. According to the students’ report, one of the horses appeared to be very thin, and all appeared have shaggy coats. The horses bolted away when the students tried to approach them, Metcalfe said.

Metcalfe said the horses could have entered the park after escaping their enclosures or could have been abandoned in the park by their owners.

"These horses could also be survivors of flooding resulting from Hurricane Irene, Tropical Storm Lee, or another storm," Metcalfe said. "Anything is possible