Series of Vehicle Thefts Being Investigated in Area

Local law enforcement agencies are investigating a series of vehicle thefts that began in Madison County and now extend into Clay County.

Effingham County Sheriff Dave Mahon said Friday morning that the incidents began Thursday evening. About 10pm, sheriff's deputies located a vehicle abandoned along a road about one mile northwest of Winterrowd in the southeast part of the county. Officers found that the vehicle had been reported stolen from St. Jacob in Madison County at 6:20pm Thursday. Information from Madison County was that a black male and a white male were spotted in the stolen vehicle.

Mahon said police set up a perimeter and utilized a tracking dog out of Clay County, but the track was unsuccessful. Officers searched until 3am Friday, then resumed the search around sunup. An officer spotted a white sedan traveling on US 45 in which two men resembling the suspects' description and tried to stop the vehicle.

Instead, Mahon said the vehicle pulled over and the occupants headed down an embankment along Big Salt Creek. The sheriff said another perimeter was established about 6am and the county tracking dog was utilized. The track was successful and the dog led officers into a garage of a home where a truck was found missing and presumed stolen by the suspects.

That truck was later found abandoned just south of Hord along US 45, and officers continue their search for the suspects there.

Sheriff Mahon said the suspects are both in their late teens or early 20's, and both are between 5' 8" and 6' 0" tall. The white male was wearing a plaid shirt and the light-skinned black male was wearing a T-shirt and has a bigger Afro hairstyle.

Mahon said nothing has happened to indicate the suspects are dangerous. Please contact local law enforcement if you have any information on the situation.