Alicia Silverstone

By Zak Failla From Daily Voice

Alicia Silverstone is stepping into a real-life Virginia mystery, teaming up with PETA to offer a $50,000 reward to help find two missing baby giraffes taken from the Natural Bridge Zoo, the group announced.

The "Clueless" star, a longtime PETA supporter, said she hopes the money will push someone to speak up quickly as the fevered search for the animals continues.

“Tearing babies away from their distraught mothers is devastating for both, no matter what species they are,” Silverstone said. 

“These missing babies need specialized care, and every day counts in finding them, so I hope someone with information about their whereabouts will come forward now.”

The giraffe calves disappeared after the facility’s manager, Gretchen Mogensen, chose to start serving 100 days in jail instead of complying with a court order to reveal where the babies were taken, according to PETA. 

Inspectors discovered the newborns missing in April during a state visit.

The situation is the latest twist in a long-running legal battle over alleged neglect at the roadside zoo, officials said. 

In 2023, the Virginia attorney general’s office executed a search warrant and seized nearly 100 animals after finding sick animals without vet care, filthy conditions, and dozens of dead and dismembered animal parts, including giraffe legs, a head, skin, tails, and frozen bags of feces, according to PETA.

Two of the four giraffes seized in place were pregnant at the time. Officials ordered the zoo to notify them when the babies were born, but that never happened. 

Public documents show the Natural Bridge Zoo has a long history of separating newborn giraffes from their mothers early and shipping them out. Records show at least 14 baby giraffes were moved during the decade before the state stepped in.

PETA says the roadside zoo and the Mogensen family have racked up years of Animal Welfare Act violations, including accusations of bludgeoning animals to death as “euthanasia,” and failing to provide food, water, direct supervision, and veterinary care.

Anyone with information on the missing giraffe calves is urged to contact the Virginia Office of the Attorney General’s Animal Law Unit at 804-786-2071.