A Las Vegas veterinarian has gone missing after apologizing for his wrongdoings.

Dr. Shawn D. Frehner went missing on Monday afternoon after receiving backlash from a disturbing viral video of him kicking a colt in the face. Last Thursday, Frehner was hired to administer anesthetic shots for some horses at a Pahrump property.

Shawna Gonzalez, the property owner, claims she has used Dr. Frehner’s services since August of 2024 but was horrified by what she witnessed during this vet visit.

While he was working with one of her colts, Shawna claims that Frehner had wrapped a rope around the horse’s neck three times, leaving the animal struggling to breathe. As she was walking back up from the chicken coop, she screamed, which is when her daughter ran to her mother’s bedroom window to see what was unfolding, picking up her phone to record moments before the veterinarian kicked the colt in the head.

“I had started having a severe anxiety attack and couldn’t breathe myself. I was already on the ground, and my daughter picked up the phone and hit record, and that’s when she got him on videotape, kicking him.”

Gonzalez told 8NewsNow. Gonzalez also claimed that Frehner left her property before the horse was even up, leading her to take the colt to Desert Pines Equine Center to receive further medical attention for abrasions to the skull and other unnecessary injuries.

“(Frehner) left my property before my horse was even up. My horse was still down for a good 45 minutes after he left and before he left, there’s several people that were there, and even they can state that he was kind of in a rush off my property.”

After the incident, Gonzalez pressed charges against Frehner for animal cruelty, and Nye County Sheriff Joe McGill confirmed to 8NewsNow on Tuesday morning that there is an open criminal investigation into Frehner.

Over the weekend, the video was shared across social media, gaining a lot of views. The viral video spurred Frehner to post acknowledging his wrongdoings and accepting responsibility for his actions.

“I did not blatantly haul off and kick this horse as it appears in the video. 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.”

However, now things have taken a turn for the worse as Dr. Frehner was declared a missing person on Monday morning.

A source told 8NewsNow that multiple organizations are searching for a missing person. While the report does not disclose the missing person’s identity, the source confirmed that they are looking for Dr. Shawn David Frehner.

The search began yesterday when officials began looking for Frehner at Lake Mead National Recreation Area. A press release stated that search efforts involved aerial, marine, and ground resources.

Shawna Gonzalez said that although what happened to her animal in the viral video was horrible, she would have never wished for this outcome.

“It’s horrible, I never, ever wished this upon him, I never wished this upon anybody.” 

Hopefully he’s found soon… and most importantly, safe.