Crime Thieves somehow steal 200-foot WJLX radio tower

Police and radio station leaders now asking those with information come forward​

Thieves steal 200-foot radio tower

By Tristan Ruppert
Published: Feb. 5, 2024 at 6:50 PM CST|Updated: Feb. 5, 2024 at 6:51 PM CST

JASPER, Ala. (WBRC) - It is one of the weirdest and wildest thefts you’ll hear about all year. A 200-foot AM radio tower in Walker County is now gone, stolen without a trace.

WJLX’S AM Station signal has been greatly impacted by the theft. Station General Manager Brett Elmore remains hopeful that somebody will share information to help law enforcement find those responsible for the theft. Still, he is blow away by what happened.

“I have tried all weekend to figure it out and I just can’t. I have been in the radio business, around it all my life and then in it professionally for 26 years and I can say I have never heard of anything like this. I can say I’ve seen it all now,” says Elmore.

Elmore says they first learned of the theft on Friday. He says a bush hog crew went down to the WJLX tower site to clean up the property, but the thieves had already cleared it out.

“When he arrived he called me Friday and said, ‘the tower is gone.’ I said what do you mean the tower is gone. Are you sure you are at the right place, you know. He said ‘the tower is gone. There is wires everywhere and it is gone.”

Elmore says they are working with the FCC to get temporary authority to carry on while they rebuild the AM side of their operations. Still, its unclear just how long the rebuild efforts could take.

“This really hurts a small operation like this but like I said, I believe we will find out who did this. It is a federal crime and it absolutely will not be worth it to them.”

If you know anything at all, they are asking that you contact either Crime Stoppers or Jasper Police.

Source (Archive)

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I believe this is the tower that was stolen:


Google Maps

 

[Burd Turglar]

Lets get a poll.

Tweakers trying to get scrap or preppers who want a fully functional tower for when shit hits the fan.

 

[Faceless Whore]

Those copper thieves getting sophisticated...

 

[Battlecruiser3000ad]

With heavy machinery and guys with reflective vests and construction helmets you can steal lot of infrastructure without anybody batting an eye

 

[Yandex Captcha Solver]

Tweakers trying to get scrap or preppers who want a fully functional tower for when shit hits the fan.

I'm voting preppers. Tweakers would have killed themselves dismantling the antenna.

Only thing is, is they will have to wait to use it for a year or two while being at least 100 miles from the station. It's going to be pretty obvious if someone in town applies for a tall antenna to be put up.

 

[Tims]

I just want to know... how?

 

[JosephStalin]

Amazing, but not totally unheard of. No copper in the tower itself, just steel. FCC will issue permit to broadcast while condition is being rectified. They issue these permits routinely, see such actions often in the National Radio Club newsletters.

 

[JosephStalin]

I just want to know... how?

Remove guy wires and unbolt connections to the pad, have a truck pull it down.

 

[JustSomeDong]

This is the second one in like a month. Some country station in I think Oklahoma had a couple methheads try the same thing, but with much less success.

Who told the tweakers that there's goldcopper in dem dere hillstowers?

 

[Asian tech support]

Lets get a poll.

Tweakers trying to get scrap or preppers who want a fully functional tower for when shit hits the fan.

Soft midwestern trailer trash tweakers vs Alaskan Dixie apex predator schizo survivalists who also happen to enjoy a bit of meth.

edit: im retarded. this happened in Alabama, not Alaska

 

[Tims]

Remove guy wires and unbolt connections to the pad, have a truck pull it down.

Just the amount of metal from it would be an all night job just to cut it up into chunks small enough to pull over. Then transport it all, must have been a crew of 20 guys to do something like this...

 

[reptile baht spaniard rid]

With heavy machinery and guys with reflective vests and construction helmets you can steal lot of infrastructure without anybody batting an eye

Here's an example https://www.smh.com.au/national/the...rror-fighters-up-in-arms-20030905-gdhc5q.html (wow they would never write an article like this today, describing the men in the second sentence!)

Guerrilla maintenance is even a known thing in cities and HOAs - if you try to cut down a tree, someone will report you and the city will climb up your ass, but if you show up with a bucket truck and a safety vest and some cones, you can cut down the tree and nobody will even blink.

 

[Bland Crumbs]

Where is David Copperfield?

 

[WonderWino]

With heavy machinery and guys with reflective vests and construction helmets you can steal lot of infrastructure without anybody batting an eye

Makes you think trailer park boys was on to something:

 

[Lifeguard Hermit]

I have a third take: is it easier for some asshole country like China to just dismantle tag and export the fucking thing to 20 different Chinese addresses? Will we even bat an eye in exports if a DD214 transmitter and it's constituent other parts leave the country like this? I'm just thinking it's cheaper to pay export and shipping to ship a stolen tower vs buying or manufacturing one.

 

[The Lawgiver]

b r i n g t h a t
r a d i o t o w e r b a c k ,
y o u b l o a t e d
b e a n b a g !

Statue of liberty is next, I'm fucking calling it now.

 

[Vect]

I have a third take: is it easier for some asshole country like China to just dismantle tag and export the fucking thing to 20 different Chinese addresses? Will we even bat an eye in exports if a DD214 transmitter and it's constituent other parts leave the country like this? I'm just thinking it's cheaper to pay export and shipping to ship a stolen tower vs buying or manufacturing one.

So you think the cunning Orientals, under the minor risk of major international incident, dismantled a radio tower in Alabama and smuggled it home to the other side of the world, because the country with more than 45000 kilometers of high-speed rail that is making over half the consumer electronics on Earth can't find a spare antenna?

I guess anything's possible.

 

[Party Hat Wurmple]

There's a point where you just have to sit back and admire some good ol' fashion talent for thieving. Level 100 Master Thief right here.

 

[ZazietheBeast]

The heist of the current year! The theft of a radio tower! This is something I'd expect to be done by Lupin the 3rd or the Payday Gang in a stealth heist.

 

[Socrates]

but if you show up with a bucket truck and a safety vest and some cones, you can cut down the tree and nobody will even blink.

This will absolutely not work in an HOA, HOA Karens are another level of insane and nosey. The second you pull up in a truck to do work that they didn't hear about at the last meeting they'll be out there screaming bloody murder at you. Hell they sometimes still do it even if you have permission from the board.