Keep you collection locked up tight! Here are a few stories about stolen artifacts and crooks that will steal your hard earned stuff. If you have a missing artifact or collection, I'll gladly add your story here. Who knows, maybe someone who knows something about the heist will drop a dime on the crooks.

Story 1. While moving to a new apartment in 1987, I gathered my best Florida, Texas, and Kentucky points, my best mammoth, mastodon and shark teeth along with my coin collection, bike trophies and other best goodies and put them into a trunk to keep them close to me. I ended up having to stay in a hotel for one night and accidentally left them in my truck over night. I woke to discover that my trunk had been broken into and the trunk stolen.

Story 2. This happened in the spring of 2005. I had moved again and temporarily hid my real large fossils, bones, vertebrates, zip bags full of horse, shark, and other common teeth out under the house carport. I had to have a garage sale to get rid of my over stock of furniture and stuff. This guy was digging around and found and unzipped my fossil bag, that wasn't for sale and off to the side. He was blown away with what he found and tried franticly to buy the stuff from me. I said sorry dude not for sale. He came back again the next day, on foot both times trying again to pry the bag loose from me. I thought he was a bit shady and should have known better. That night I moved my unsold stuff back under the carport and hid that bag back under some of the old junk. Sure as shinola someone dug out my fossil bag and hoofed with it. I wonder who? I think artifacts & fossils are like gold to people with the fever. And you know what gold fever does to people. It makes them sick! Hide your gold!

Story 3. One of my dad's best finds was a perfect Plummet of iron ore. It was by all standards a museum quality piece and I think dads favorite relic. He had some artifacts on display with his 3rd wife in there living room, under a glass topped table. One day one of visiting neighborhood kids took it. My Dad knew who it was, but the kid wouldn't admit it and the kids parents didn't care! I was about 12 then, but I felt my Dads pain, just as if it was stolen from me.

Story 4. Well I said I got my dads entire collection, but it was like pulling teeth to get it and it was short one artifact or maybe even more. I took most of the artifacts while up north taking care of the family business and all. But my latest stepmother didn't want me to take the artifacts that my dad had displayed, just yet so soon after my dads passing. So I said sure, take some time. Years went by, she then remarried, and more years went by. Finely she agreed to send me all the best stuff. She asked me when she agreed to send the stuff "do you want the bannerstone too?" Hell Yes! But! To me the two most awesome artifacts were the prism bannerstone (that I have) and this huge groove axe. Well the axe didn't show up with the rest of the stuff. My stepmother asked, “don't you already have it?” Sure don't. She now says she must have lost it or she just can't find it! It must weigh 20lbs and is near a foot long. Hmmm...

Story 5. Here's the worst caper yet. This is about my dad's good friend Elmer Beatty of Johnson County Illinois, who got my dad started on hunting artifacts. He wanted to share his collection and displayed it for years as a little museum attraction in the local post office in Vienna IL. I know his collection was Huge and a sister to my collection. Yep, the post office was broken into and the whole collection was stolen!

Back