Idaho collector loses 100 miniature horses worth about $10,000 to thieves in Portland

Molly Worek, a 29-year-old model horse collector from Idaho, says thieves stole her collection of around 100 miniature horses from a rental car in Portland. The theft happened after she won best-in-show at a competition in Tigard, turning a successful trip into the loss of pieces she described as individual works of art.

The collection was valued at about $10,000 and represented years of collecting and commissions from artists around the world; some models took up to two years to complete. Worek left the horses in the car overnight because her hotel had no parking and she was reluctant to carry them through dark, wet streets. After reporting the theft, she searched Portland and heard that a man had handed one of the models to an employee at Powell’s Books and allegedly offered others for sale.