A Las Vegas veterinarian who was filmed violently kicking a horse in the face has been found dead weeks after disappearing.
Dr. Shawn Frehner, 56, was discovered on Friday (April 18) in the waters of Lake Mead, a vast reservoir stretching across Nevada and Arizona.
According to PEOPLE, authorities launched a search after locating his truck and several personal items abandoned near the shoreline last week.
His identity was confirmed on Monday (April 21), the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
Frehner vanished on April 6, shortly after a disturbing video circulated online showing him physically assaulting a horse during a medical procedure.
The footage, which sparked outrage on social media, was recorded by Shawna Gonzalez, a longtime client of Frehner’s whose horse, Big Red, suffered the abuse.
“I heard [my mother] yell, ‘Oh my God. He just kicked him’,” Gonzalez told 8NewsNow. “Oh my God, Mom, he’s choking… He wrapped the horse around his neck three times, and he kicked him in the head.”
Gonzalez said Frehner had been treating her animals since August. Following the incident, she revealed Big Red had sustained serious injuries to his head, including abrasions to the skull, which would require thousands of dollars in veterinary care.
Before his disappearance, Frehner took to Facebook to issue a public apology and offer an explanation for his actions.
“I did not blatantly haul off and kick this horse as it appears in the video,” he wrote, per the outlet. “That was not my intention at all. 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 added.
At the time of his disappearance, Frehner was facing felony animal abuse charges.
Gonzalez said in a text to the publication that she was sorry to hear about Frehner’s death, adding: “I had no idea this would happen. But I was not the one bullying. I am not sorry for standing up for my horse. I am their voice and will continue to be.
“It’s horrible, I never, ever wished this upon him, I never wished this upon anybody,” Gonzalez continued. “This is not what I wanted in the end at all.”
An investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death remains ongoing.