John Anthony hooked impressive fish on back-to-back days out of Sandy Lick Creek near Brookville in 2022.
He was proud of the pair of catches and wanted to get the 21-inch rainbow trout and 15-inch brook trout mounted, so he sought help from Mike Chesla of Forever Ridge Taxidermy in Derry Township.
“I only keep something that’s worthy of being mounted,” the Avalon man said, typically “something big, trophy-sized.”
It happened again in 2023 when he nabbed a 22-inch golden rainbow trout, weighing in at 5.2 pounds, from North Park Lake in Allegheny County. Anthony said he gave the taxidermist a $600 down payment for the three fish.
Months, and then years, went by without receiving the mounts or being able to get solid answers from Forever Ridge Taxidermy, he said. Anthony even drove to the Bradenville business a couple times in unsuccessful efforts to get an update, or the trio of fish back.
“Ideally, from a sentimental standpoint, I’d just like to have the fish,” he said.
State police say there are likely many others in the same situation. Troopers are looking for anyone who did business with Forever Ridge Taxidermy between 2021 and 2025 and haven’t gotten their mounts or animals back, or had an issue with payment.
Trooper Steve Limani said numerous wild animals and business records were seized from the taxidermy business in December during a joint search warrant between state police and the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Those animals are being stored and could be returned to hunters or fishers.
“We have animals we don’t know who they belong to,” he said.
Police got involved after receiving several complaints from customers who paid Forever Ridge Taxidermy for mounts to be created from animals they hunted or fish they caught, sometimes paying up to 50% in a deposit, and never getting the finished product back, Limani said. The complaints so far are totaling thousands of dollars paid for the work, and troopers expect that amount to rise as more customers make reports.
Eric Hagerty of Pleasant Unity gave Forever Ridge Taxidermy a coyote he shot in 2023 near the Westmoreland Fairgrounds. Communication with the business has been spotty ever since, he said. Now, he just wants the animal’s hide back and at least a partial refund.
“I was 16 at the time. I barely had a decent paying job. I was working after school, working full days in the summer,” he said. “I had enough cash saved up. I gave him almost $730 for a deposit.”
It’s unclear how many animals were seized during the search warrant and whether any of them are salvageable for mounting purposes, Limani said. Some appear that they weren’t properly stored.
Complaints have already been received from customers who have been waiting since 2021 for their mounts. While there is a wait time typically associated with taxidermy work, Limani said four to five years is excessive.
“The lag time is well outside what somebody would consider reasonable,” he said.
No charges have been filed. Forever Ridge Taxidermy has not been registered with the state. A message left on a phone number for the business was not returned. The voicemail said it was not accepting new clients, and current clients will be contacted when their items are ready.
“I will not be returning phone calls or messages until I get caught up,” the voicemail said. A Google webpage listing for the business leads to a broken link.
For some of those who already made complaints to police, it’s personal — the mount they ordered might be a prized possession or a memory from a once-in-a-lifetime hunt or catch. Anthony and Hagerty said they have sympathy for young hunters and anglers who are waiting for mounts of what might be their first deer or fish.
Anthony is determined to help others get their animals back, if possible.
“I want to make sure a lot of these wrongs will be righted,” he said.
For Hagerty, knowing an investigation is underway offers a little solace.
“It gives me closure, but it kind of makes me sick to my stomach to know that he has (thousands) in people’s money,” Hagerty said, “but at the same time it gives me closure knowing that that’s large enough to build a good case off of this to get justice served.”
Anyone who needs to make a report may call the state police station in Greensburg at 724-832-3288. Callers should provide information about the transaction, animal and any documentation they have about the sale or communication with Forever Ridge Taxidermy.