From David Richie:
Gold prospecting equipment was targeted in two recent thefts reported to the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office.
On Monday afternoon, a Latrobe resident told deputies that a custom-made sluice box and a pump had been taken from a spot on his property along the Cosumnes River. The box was valued at about $1,000.
The property owner said he did not think the box could have been taken out across his property and he talked with deputies about the possibility that it was floated downstream to a point where the thieves could take it out and load it into a vehicle.
A Lotus area property owner was hit even harder. On April 25, he discovered that someone had cut the lock off a his storage container off Webber Creek Road and replaced it with a new lock. He sawed that lock off and soon determined that his storage container had been ransacked.
The losses included two Keene gold dredges and their pumps, worth about $3,000 each. A $600 Keene swirl pan also was missing.
The thieves had an obvious eye for precious metal. They also rolled out six spools of copper wire each weighing about 300 pounds and worth about $500 each.
A $900 riding lawn mower also was taken from the storage container.
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