Dateline Dixon: Your Crundwell questions answered

I received six emails and a couple of phone calls, for a total of about 15 questions.

Here are answers to some of those questions:

– What kind of dogs did Rita raise? And what happened to them?

Jason Wojdylo, chief inspector of the U.S. Marshals Service asset forfeiture division, said he’s not certain about the breeds, and the marshals had no involvement with removal, adoption or care of the dogs, he said. Crundwell still could have them, or she may have given them away.

– How many employees did she have?

Crundwell had about a dozen employees working on her Red Brick Road ranch, Wojdylo said. An unknown number of workers at 21 other locations across 13 states also took care of horses she boarded, including at the Meri J Ranch in Beloit, Wis. It’s not known how many, if any, were Crundwell employees.

– When will the Florida house be up for sale?

Fellow reporter Tara Becker wrote that marshals have not received an offer on Crundwell’s vacation home in Englewood, Fla. If they don’t get an unsolicited bid by mid-February, Wojdylo likely will contact a real estate broker.

– We, in the horse world, would like to know where did all of RC’s show clothes go?

At this time, the court has not ordered the marshals to seize or sell Crundwell’s clothing, or her trophies.

– Why all of a sudden did the primary audit firm believe a conflict took place and a second audit (firm) was hired?

From the deposition statements of four CliftonLarsonAllen employees, including one-time partners Ron Blaine and Todd Etheridge, the city required an independent audit as of 2005. Because the auditing firm was doing the city’s books and payroll, it would be auditing documents it put together, and in a sense, auditing itself, making it necessary for the city to switch auditors. Why 2005? Clifton said a federal statute change then required the city’s audit to be independent.

– Are the audit reports available through Freedom of Information Act requests?