The Search for Dallas: Five Weeks Missing at Kings Mountain

The Search for Dallas: Five Weeks Missing at Kings Mountain

For nearly 30 years, Debi Metcalfe has spent her days — starting between 4 and 5 in the morning — helping families bring their lost and stolen horses home. She has never taken a salary for it. The work is done entirely by volunteers through Stolen Horse International-NetPosse, the Shelby-based nonprofit she founded after her own horse, Idaho, was stolen from his pasture. Nearly a year later, she got him back — and a mission was born.

That mission has since carried her across the United States and as far as Ireland, working alongside Scotland Yard and Ireland's national police service, An Garda. She has become one of the country's leading experts on horse theft, speaking to crowds of thousands, and was recently contacted about appearing in a Netflix documentary. But right now, her focus is close to home.

The hunt for Dallas

Dallas is a brown-and-white American Paint horse who disappeared September 20 into the woods of Kings Mountain Military Park. He was still wearing his saddle and bridle when he bolted during a trail ride after his rider fell. He was last confirmed seen on September 23.

For five weeks now, volunteers have searched hundreds of acres of woods, flown drones, and checked trail cameras. They have mapped the area where he was lost — toward the Blacksburg, South Carolina, end of the park — and posted flyers. They have reached out to hikers, park staff, other horse owners, and the public through social media and the Stolen Horse International website. And still, Dallas is missing.

His owner, Ashlee Gill, has owned Dallas for 16 years. She lives several hours from where he disappeared, but she works every single day to find him.

Searchers cannot confirm whether Dallas is still in the woods, caught up somewhere and unable to get free, or whether someone found him and took him in, not knowing his owner is searching for him. There is a $1,000 reward for his return.

How you can help

Photos and descriptions of Dallas, along with updates on the case, are posted on his NetPosse webpage. Two flyers are available there — one for social media and one to download and print. People across the horse world are asked to look at his photographs: veterinarians, farriers, trainers, boarding barns, lesson facilities, livestock auctions, sale barns, horse dealers, haulers, barrel racers, rodeo participants, and trail riders.

If you have any information, tips, or leads on Dallas, contact owner Ashlee Gill at 828-808-7661 or his caretaker, Carey Toole, at 828-553-7977.

Why the word matters

Stolen Horse International has seen firsthand how media coverage can generate the tip that brings a missing horse home. Flyers work, too — two horses were once recovered in North Carolina because of a flyer posted in a beauty parlor in Hendersonville. As Debi told The Shelby Star: "A lady was getting a perm and she looked up on the wall and saw the flyer and said, 'I know where those horses are.'"

Tips on Dallas came in for a while after he disappeared, but they have since dried up. That is why the search continues — and why Debi asks people not to give up.

"One of the worst things for people is just not getting closure," she said. "Even if their horse is dead, it's better to know, otherwise they look forever."

But there is hope. "We've had multiple horses come home after 10 years missing," she said.

If your horse goes missing, file a report at netposse.com right away — don't wait until morning.

*This article is based on reporting by Rebecca Sitzes in The Shelby Star, October 30, 2026. Read the full original here: https://www.shelbystar.com/story/news/local/2026/10/30/stolen-horse-international-seeks-missing-horse-at-kings-mountain-park/92458923007