WHITE/JEFFERSON COs., Ill. - A vehicle recovered after getting mired down in a remote White County road turns out to have been stolen out of Jefferson County, and authorities in both counties are investigating.
The situation was discovered yesterday (Tuesday, October 16) when White County Sheriff Doug Maier and Sgt. Craig Poole responded to a report of a vehicle stuck on a lease road going into a field.
The caller (who was not identified in reports) met the officers at the scene, which was in the vicinity of County Road 25E and along Aden Road, Mill Shoals.
When the officers arrived, they were advised by the caller that he had observed a male subject in a clack hoodie and shorts driving a black Chrysler 300. This subject got the vehicle stuck and the caller helped the hoodie-wearer to get the vehicle unstuck. The caller remarked that there was a dog in the vehicle, and that he found the car "suspicious to be in the remote area," largely because it had Missouri license plates on it. The caller said he saw the car go down a one-way remote road that was closed. About an hour later when the vehicle didn't return, the caller checked on the status of the vehicle. He located it stuck in a lease road going into a field with no occupant or dog around it. So that's when the caller notified dispatch with his 911 call.
Officers were advised that a vehicle matching the description of the one stuck on the lease road had been stolen out of Jefferson County earlier in the morning.
So the officers viewed the vehicle and performed a VIN check on it; and White County Dispatch advised that the vehicle was indeed the one stolen, so a tow truck was called. S&E towed it from the scene, with efforts being made to preserve any possible finger print evidence that might be collected at a later time.
The matter remains under investigation.