Document text
$5,000 reward offered in Crater Lake ammo theft case Wednesday Feb 22, 2017 at 3:28 PM Feb 23, 2017 at 7:32 AM Mark Freeman Mail Tribune @MTwriterFreeman National Park Service agents hope a stepped-up reward and video of a vehicle making a late-night trek into Crater Lake National Park will help lead them to whoever stole about 10,000 rounds of ammunition in early February from its park ranger program. Park spokeswoman Jennifer Evans said an increase in the reward from $1,000 to $5,000 is to provide "more motivation" for someone to call, text or email federal agents with information about the case. Agents from the Park Service Investigative Services Branch also hope a short video of what appears to be a pickup truck entering the park's South Entrance off Highway 62 in the snow at 2:30 a.m. Feb. 6 might lead to clues, Evans said. The truck entered the park the day the theft was discovered, Evans said. Investigators do not consider whoever was in the pickup to be suspects in the theft, but they may have seen something that helps the investigation, Evans said. "The investigators really want to find out who was in that vehicle and talk to them," Evans said. "They may have seen something that may be valuable to the investigation." The ammunition, a combination of rifle and handgun bullets, was taken from a building near park headquarters, Evans said. The theft was discovered when a ranger noticed a door in that building was open, and when he looked in he noticed the ammunition was missing, Evans said. Evans declined to discuss other aspects of the case. The theft is considered a felony, Evans said. The reward is offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the thief or thieves and is offered through the Investigative Services Branch, Evans said. Anyone with information can call the ISB tip line at 1-888-653-0009, text to 1-202-379-4761 or email to [email protected]. Tips also can be sent via Twitter to @SpecialAgentsNPS or sent to the branch's Facebook page at @InvestigativeServicesNPS. Tipsters can remain anonymous. — Reach Mail Tribune reporter Mark Freeman at 541-776-4470 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MTwriterFreeman.