Radio station baffled after 200-foot radio tower goes missing without a trace
Some heists are so impossibly audacious, it's hard to wrap your head around how they were actually pulled off.
That's exactly the case with a crime that recently came out of Jasper, Alabama - where a 200-foot radio tower and AM transmitter was stolen from a local radio station.
Brett Elmore, the general manager of station WJLX, got a nasty surprise when he was informed that his radio tower had disappeared in the middle of the night.
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The tower - which had reportedly been standing since the 1950s - was situated in a wooded area, and was discovered missing by a landscaping crew.
Elmore said in a Facebook post that thieves stole every piece of equipment out of the building, cut the wires attached to the tower and made off with it.
And he still can't seem to fathom what happened, writing on Facebook: "I have heard of thieves in this area stealing anything, but this one takes the cake."
WJLX is an AM radio station that largely plays the golden oldies, and without the tower it has been off-air - but continuing broadcasts online in the meantime.
"Jasper Police is investigating and hopefully they will find who did it. It is a FEDERAL crime to tamper with a federally licensed facility," Elmore added on Facebook.
This is only a small-town radio station, so the crime has had a huge impact - particularly as the property wasn't insured. Elmore told the Guardian that replacing the tower would cost between $100,000 to $150,000, which is “more money than we have”, he said.
And apparently Elmore is not alone in his misfortune - other local radio stations have reportedly also been hit, having copper pipes and other materials stolen from them in recent months.
“The sad part is that Jasper has always been a radio town. They have always supported their local radio station,” Elmore told the Guardian.
“Now we’re silent, but we won’t be silent for long. I’m gonna work tirelessly to get this thing back up and running, one way or the other.”