The Crime Watch advisory started like this: "The Estevan RCMP is requesting the public's assistance in solving a recent theft of two rig shacks. Yes, you read that correctly…two rig shacks."
The attached images told the rest of the story and confirmed why the advisory was so surprising. The rig (site) shacks were approximately 48 feet x 12 feet large – nearly a third of the length of an Olympic-sized swimming pool. The buildings can be used as portable office or accommodation space for work sites.
But how could something so large be stolen?
"While the investigation is still ongoing, there's the potential the buildings were taken by mistake and then abandoned when the error was realized," said Sgt. Jeff Clarke, Estevan RCMP Detachment Commander. "Due to the sheer size of them, we hoped the advisory might help us - maybe someone knew where they were."
Like any theft investigation, the lead RCMP investigator sought physical evidence, spoke with potential witnesses and conducted neighbourhood and local business inquiries. Officers checked video camera surveillance footage and made inquiries with people familiar with moving rig shacks. Images of the missing buildings were obtained, which provided a visual the public could put to memory.
Estevan RCMP sent the original release on November 27 around 3:00 p.m. Almost one week later, on December 3, shortly before noon, a second advisory went out advising the rig shacks had been found – spotted by one very attentive member of the public.
"A worker in a location nearly sixty kilometers away from where they were reported missing spotted these two large buildings in an area where they shouldn't be. They were curious as to why they were there. They also recalled a recent local news story about rig shacks being stolen. We commend this person for following their instinct that something was amiss. Once they were confirmed to be the missing buildings, the owner was very pleased with the recovery."
Sgt. Clarke says Crime Watch Advisories have proven to be a very useful and timely way to get information out to the public. "I appreciate our local news agencies re-posting our advisories to help widen the reach – sharing information with the public can assist with solving an investigation, as it so happened in this instance!"
Sgt. Clarke stresses this investigation is an excellent example of how important it is for the public to report suspicious activity – big or small - to police. "We rely on the general public – they know what's 'normal' and 'not normal' around where they live and work," he says. "In this instance, it was the worker who recognized something was 'not normal' and trusted their instinct to report it. Like the Crime Watch advisories the RCMP releases to the public, it is just as important to have timely and accurate information from the public reporting to the police. We are all working together towards the same goal of having safer communities."