WASHINGTON — Several dead animals were found in Rock Creek Park on Tuesday and investigators say it looks like they were killed in some sort of animal sacrifice.

The animals, including several chickens and a small goat, were found by a passerby a little after 3 p.m. in the area where Rock Creek Park meets D.C.’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood.

The passerby found them along a path near the intersection of 17th Street NW and Piney Branch Parkway NW.

The animals were lightly covered in snow.

A U.S. Park Police spokeswoman says it appears to be a ritual killing, in which the animals were killed somewhere else, and then dumped in the park.

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