Investigators arrived at the premises in the morning. Fred Bauer’s white Volvo Semi was parked on the property across the street from his house. His other trucks were not there, only a single deck and a flatbed trailer were parked next to the Semi. There were approx 30 horses inside his barn. Another group of horses, mainly Standardbreds and Thoroughbreds with auction tags still attached, was grazing in one of his pastures. Additional horses were kept in a pasture on the other side of the house. All horses observed were in good condition. At 4:00pm, a pickup truck with Iowa license plates pulling a high end horse trailer arrived at the property and backed up to the barn. 
The trailer was parked in that position for approx. 30 minutes with the trailer door open, apparently he unloaded some horses. Investigators observed the premises until dark, but there was no more activity. Fred Bauer has quietly developed into one of the largest slaughter buyers in Ohio. Public records indicate that he bought the staggering number of 6953 horses in 2010, which is more than Bouvry Exports (5988) or Leroy Baker (4207).
