WAGNER, S.D. - A vessel lost in a sea of ... corn?
After nearly a month of investigating a crime and drudging up leads, the Wagner Police Department got a big break on Dec. 12.
Around 9 p.m., Seth Fischer was combining corn in a field he owns 3 miles east of Greenwood when he saw something reflecting light. When he went to investigate, Fischer found something he said he never expected - a boat. "I guess, in this area, you come across some pretty crazy stuff now and then, but I've never found a boat in a field," Fischer said Tuesday. "You usually don't find them in the winter time parked in a corn field."
Fischer, a Wagner native, farms land from Wagner to Lake Andes and south to Pickstown, and said he's found a few cars and other strange items on his property, but Monday's discovery might be the most bizarre.
The boat and the trailer were two of the items stolen from storage sheds located at the Wagner Building Supply Storage Units, according to Wagner Police Officer DesaRae Gravatt.
ADVERTISEMENT
The theft occurred sometime between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. Nov. 16, during which time a suspect or suspects cut the locks on seven storage units and took an array of items including the boat and trailer, a snowblower, fishing poles, tackle boxes and a toolbox.
A pickup truck was also stolen, Gravatt said, and was recovered the same day, but the rest of the items remain missing.
The owner of the boat offered Fischer an $800 cash reward for recovering the watercraft, Gravatt said, but Fischer declined. Gravatt said the boat owner's wife is ill and Fischer told officials "he's not concerned about the money and knows what it's like to make ends meet, especially around Christmas."
With no suspects caught in relation to the theft, Gravatt asked anyone with information to report it to the Wagner Police Department.
"We want to get justice for these people who had their stuff stolen," Gravatt said.
