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

 

[Freshly Baked Socks]

I believe we will find out who did this. It is a federal crime and it absolutely will not be worth it to them.”

I love hearing Elmer Fudds when they say this, whether it is about theft from a mailbox or (checks list) stealing AM broadcast towers.

Such a boomer victim cope.

 

[dustbuster]

I smell a new "Absolute Mad Lads" from Dankula over this incident.

 

[The Last Stand]

I just want to know... how?

No cameras?

 

[clipartfan92]

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.

So obviously this tower was not in use or the broadcast engineer or some other technical staff at the station would immediately notice that the transmitter was offline. Still a bit crazy that someone would steal the tower.

 

[Pee Cola]

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

This. Hi-vis clothing is like wearing an invisibility cloak. It can be used as a disguise for almost anything from stealing copper at a building site to trespassing at a mine, all in plain sight.

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

So obviously this tower was not in use or the broadcast engineer or some other technical staff at the station would immediately notice that the transmitter was offline.

you'd be surprised how often the people at a station have no clue about if the transmitter is going or not

 

[kcbbq]

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...

It's not that difficult dropping these kinds of towers. The "wires everywhere" were probably the guy lines. Cut those the tower falls and separates into transportable sections all on its own.

That being said tampering with these towers is a much more serious crime in the eyes of the government than stealing a few wires, and the station kind of needs to stay on top of their share of the problem as well or they get into major trouble for not sending out a signal. It's going to be a challenge to sell that metal because the FCC is as good at tracking this stuff and as enthusiastic about it as the Secret Service is at tracking people counterfeiting dollar bills.

This is an AM station so there isn't much transmission line because you only connect to the base of the tower, but it's probably not particularly valuable as copper because the station is only a 1000 watt station.

 

[JosephStalin]

So obviously this tower was not in use or the broadcast engineer or some other technical staff at the station would immediately notice that the transmitter was offline. Still a bit crazy that someone would steal the tower.

Transmitter shouldn't have been affected, separate piece(s) of gear. Would have lines going from transmitter to tower. Listeners would have noted no signal when they tuned in to the station. But agree no idea why anyone would steal the tower.

 

[Xarpho's Return]

This sounds like all the implausible things that Carmen Sandiego and her gang steals.

Stealing a 200-foot radio tower is supervillain-tier.

 

[Emilio Mola]

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.

"Alright, crew, listen up. Today, we're not just chasing cash; we're going after something monumental. We're talking about snagging a 200-foot WJLX radio tower. It's not just about the payout; it's about making a statement. Let's show the world what we are capable of!"

 

[kcbbq]

Transmitter shouldn't have been affected, separate piece(s) of gear. Would have lines going from transmitter to tower. Listeners would have noted no signal when they tuned in to the station. But agree no idea why anyone would steal the tower.

It could have blown the final amp suddenly trying to transmit into an antenna circuit that isn't balanced anymore. It might have survived if it used tubes, but if it had been updated to use the big mosfet pucks they're probably toast.

 

[clipartfan92]

Here's some more information. They took everything including the transmitter. The wikipedia says:

In February 2024, the station, which has gone dark several times throughout the last few years due to deferred maintenance involving the 1240 AM tower southeast of Jasper that is slowly being repaired

An Entire 200-Foot Tower Stolen From WJLX-AM Jasper.
Inside Radio (archive.ph)
By Inside Radio Staff
2024-02-05T15:30:00GMT

Spoiler

Thieves toppled and stole the 200-foot tower of classic hits WJLX-AM (1240) in Jasper, AL. The theft was discovered late last week and also included the transmitter and other equipment.

Station owner and GM Brett Elmore broke the news on the station’s Facebook page on Friday, Feb. 2.

“This is going to get out eventually, so I might as well make it public before it does. I have heard of thieves in this area stealing anything, but this one takes the cake,” Station owner and GM Brett Elmore wrote in a posting. “This morning, my bush hog crew went down to a tower site we have behind MarJac to do an early cleanup of the property before we did some more work down there. When he arrived, he called and notified me that not only was my building vandalized, but my TWO HUNDRED FOOT TOWER WAS GONE! They stole every piece of equipment out of the building, cut the guy wires to the tower and SOMEHOW managed to down a 200' tower and take it from the property. Jasper Police is investigating and hopefully they will find who did it. It is a FEDERAL crime to tamper with a federally licensed facility. If you have any information, please call the Jasper Police Department at 205-221-2121.”

WJLX is a Class C AM station that operates at 1,000 watts. The station continues to broadcast via its FM translator, the Jasper-licensed W268BM at 101.5.

“I don’t see some guy off the street doing this,” Elmore told Inside Radio. “This looks like a professional hit.” He said that station engineers filed for an STA with the FCC now that the AM signal has been knocked off the air. Local broadcasting colleagues are offering help to possibly find a temporary transmitter location.

WJLX is a special place for Elmore, a second-generation broadcaster. “That’s where I first went on the air,” he shares. After the tower theft, Elmore says “Honestly, I can say that I’ve seen it all.”

This may be the first theft of a full radio tower. Thieves have been known to target radio towers for their copper. Last month, copper thieves toppled the tower of Payne Media Group country “K95.5” KITX in Hugo, OK, knocking the station off the air and causing nearly half a million dollars in damage. Also in January, WAYN Rockingham, NC (900) was knocked off the air when copper wires were stolen and damage was done to the tower electronics.

In May 2023, Agape Communications’ adult standards KSGL Wichita, KS (900), saw their tower go dark when vandals stole hundreds of feet of copper wiring from its transmitter site.

Alabama station in disbelief after 200-foot radio tower stolen
NBC News (archive.ph)
By Katherine Itoh
2024-02-08 17:19:25GMT

Spoiler

A radio station in Alabama was forced to go silent after thieves stole their 200-foot radio tower and other equipment from a building.

WJLX radio station sent a landscaping crew to the site Friday morning for spring cleaning, only to find the 200-foot radio tower gone. When a crew member called the station's general manager to break the news, he was in disbelief.

"What do you mean the tower is gone? Are you sure you're in the right place? I actually used more colorful words than that," Brett Elmore recounted to NBC News. "He said there's wires all over the ground and the tower is gone."

Not only was the radio tower stolen, but a nearby building was also vandalized. When Elmore heard the door was left ajar, "that's when reality was starting to set in that something bad had happened."

The thieves stole every piece of equipment from the building, including a transmitter. Elmore has filed a report with the police.

"There was a meeting yesterday between the owner and our investigators concerning the matter," Jasper Mayor David O’Mary told NBC News on Thursday. "At this point, we are still lacking information that we have to have to conduct a full-fledged investigation."

 

[Cheesegirl78]

I would be pissed, but have to give the thieves their due...an entire fucking big-ass radio tower?

Was telling Mr. Cheese about this, he wondered if cartels were involved.

 

[Cpt. Stud Beefpile]

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.

If every "shadow IT" team in the world were to be discovered and forcibly blocked tomorrow, major institutions would have irrecoverable hacks/failures in a matter of weeks.

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

https://www.radiodiscussions.com/threads/wjlx-200-tower-reported-stolen.769741/

chatter from a more insider perspective

 

[Local FloRida-man]

Possible thread themes

Spoiler

 

[kcbbq]

Well, since they took the transmitter I guess it doesn't matter if they blew up the finals or not.

 

[clipartfan92]

Something I ran across the other day and was looking for a thread to post it in:

 

[The Big O]

This has serious "What happened to the stairs?!" Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy energy to it. A whole 200-foot radio tower? How does that go unnoticed?!

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

This has serious "What happened to the stairs?!" Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy energy to it. A whole 200-foot radio tower? How does that go unnoticed?!

there's a lot of speculation that this outfit had been neglecting some technicality stuff about not transmitting on AM as well as FM (which is needed from FCC regulations due to the way they're on FM), and gosh they just noticed the tower's gone shortly before they expected the FCC barking down their snorkel