Idaho woman seeks return of custom model horses stolen from car in Portland

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - An Idaho woman is hoping to recover a collection of model horses stolen from her rental car in downtown Portland, after witnesses reported seeing a man giving away pouches containing the figures near Powell’s Books.

Molly Worak estimates about 100 horses were stolen. She said the custom collection, built over 20 years, was worth an estimated $10,000 - but to her, the horses are priceless.

“They’re just all gone, you know, in an instant,” Worak said.

Worak had traveled to Oregon for the first time to attend the Route 66 Model Horse Show in Tigard. She described the model horse community as “huge, yet niche,” with collectors displaying hand-crafted, hand-painted horses customized down to each hair.

One of the stolen models had just earned her a milestone award.

“And what’s especially heart-wrenching is yesterday was the first time I’ve ever won a Best in Show, and that model is also one of the ones that was stolen,” she explained.

Worak said she had left her collection hidden in her rental car, which was parked in a paid lot off 10th Avenue across from Powell’s. When she discovered the theft, she called police.

A security guard working near Powell’s told FOX 12 they saw a man they recognized giving away green knit pouches near the bookstore, and confirmed that the pouches contained Worak’s model horses.

Worak said two Powells employees also told her they saw a man distributing horses in their pouches.

“So the two employees from inside the store confirmed they saw the man, they saw what he was doing. And he had been taking my model horses in their pouches and distributing them,” Worak said.

Worak, now back home in Idaho, said the uncertainty about what happened to the collection has been difficult.

“They’re just in the alley or dumped in a river or what’s happening to them. And that’s, I think, the hardest part,” she said.

Worak said anyone who was given one of the pouches or sees the horses being sold can contact her at mollyworek97@gmail.com; she says she will reimburse shipping costs for returned horses.

The horses can also be turned in to the Portland Police Bureau, under case number T26031871.