A case related to several abandoned cats left to die in 2018 ended earlier this month when prosecutors dropped charges against one of the defendants over a lack of evidence.

Authorities charged Kevin Delehanty, of Cranberry Township, and Tamara Rusz, of Mars, after investigators stumbled on numerous cats abandoned and dead in their cages in November 2018 in a section of woods off Bear Creek Road in Winfield Township.

Prosecutors dropped the case, which included six misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty, against Rusz earlier this month. The felines were in carriers placed close to one another. In each of the two carriers were two dead cats, according to former Butler County humane police officer Janice Lawniczak. A third carrier contained one dead cat.

Also in the third carrier was another cat, which escaped when the door was opened.

“The deceased cat had been mauled by the live cat,” documents said, “and the body was torn into pieces.”

Delehanty was accepted into the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition Program last year for 18 months of government supervision. The program is for first-time offenders and allows a person to have their criminal charges dropped if they successfully complete the program under government supervision without further incidents or offenses.

District Attorney Richard Goldinger noted that Rusz's case was dropped earlier this month because there was “insufficient evidence to proceed.”

He also said that Lawniczak filed the charges against the couple with his office's approval, even though there wasn't enough evidence. The case was further hindered by the fact that Lawniczak no longer was an employee with the county.

“The district attorney decided to withdraw because he didn't have the humane officer,” said District Judge Sue Haggerty, who was assigned to preside over the case. “I have no case unless I have someone who is going to present evidence.”

Goldinger also noted that Rusz has not been able to be located after the charges were filed.

During the investigation, Lawniczak said she found garbage bags that contained mail addressed to Rusz. A neighbor told authorities that Rusz and Delehanty had been living nearby on property her mother owned.

On Dec. 8, 2018, Lawniczak contacted Delehanty, who allegedly admitted that he and Rusz “knowingly and willingly abandoned all six cats while they were still alive” in the woods.

The pair was accused of abandoning the cats and leaving them without food or water and with insufficient shelter.

In June 2019, the couple once again faced animal cruelty charges for a nearly identical case of abandoned animals in cages in the same area. But in that case, the charges were dropped at the district level, and the records have since been expunged as part of the state's Clean Slate Act, according Haggerty.

In July 2019, Goldinger said that he had plans to refile against Rusz. But since then, he said that because of the Lawniczak's departure and Rusz's disappearance, he declined to refile the charges.

“We thought we needed more investigation conducted, and she's no longer the humane society officer, so I don't think there's anything further available to us,” Goldinger said.