A couple of car thieves are leaving confusion instead of tire tracks behind in Bad Axe, with Huron County Sheriff Kelly Hanson asking for help from the greater Thumb community.
The mystery began Friday morning around 7:30 a.m., when Huron County Sheriff’s Sgt Brandon Kadar responded to a vehicle in a Dwight Township ditch. The car, found near the Kinde and Tomlinson Road intersection, was a 2000 Saturn from Birchfield, Michigan. In the snow leading away from the abandoned vehicle, Sgt. Kadar spotted two sets of footprints in the snow and followed them north along Tomlinson Road for about a mile before they ended at a home in the area.
When officers went to speak with the home’s resident, they found that he was searching for his 2006 Chevrolet Silverado, with it determined by investigators that it was stolen during the night. Further accounts from witnesses in the area determined that the man’s pickup truck had been stolen only minutes before the deputies arrived at the scene. Witnesses described the thieves as a man wearing glasses and a blue jean jacket and a woman wearing a green winter jacket with a fur collar.
Upon returning to the ditched Saturn, Sgt. Kadar found the car owner’s phone number and contacted them. The owner at first did not believe that her car was in Huron County until a check of her driveway showed it empty and it was determined the Saturn had also been stolen during the night.
Shortly before 9:00 a.m., a neighbor of the Dwight Township homeowner called to report seeing the stolen pickup at the main light in Bad Axe, but a search of the Bad Axe area failed to turn up the truck. Huron County Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Bismark was able to obtain surveillance photos of the stolen pickup from local businesses it passed as the drivers fled west on M-53.
The stolen vehicle is described as a 4×4 2006 Chevrolet Silverado in a champagne type color, with a single cab and a short box. The truck has rust and a distinctive “CAT” (Caterpillar) license plate on the front, while the rear license plate is a Michigan one licensed 8LRK00.
