Torrance County investigators ask for help finding stolen gun January 17, 2017
By KRQE News 13 under News Briefs

MOUNTAINAIR, N.M. (KRQE) – Torrance County investigators are looking for information about a stolen gun that the thief may be trying to sell.

The Smith and Wesson .44 Caliber Magnum revolver was stolen last April from a home in Mountainair. Investigators believe the thief has contacted several people trying to sell it.

If you have been contacted about buying the gun, you are asked to contact law enforcement. You can remain anonymous.

I hope they catch the people responsible for all the break ins and fire in Mountainair

I believe the thieves live locally and have several local friends phoning them when neighbors leave their homes unoccupied.

The house just north of me got hit and the owner was away about two hours.  A neighbor reported that a black jeep pulled into the yard and left a few minutes later.

The house just south of me got hit and the owner was away less than 30 minutes.

The thieves seem to be smash and grab types.   Kick the door in, grab only small valuables like guns, jewelry and electronics and get out fast.   They didn’t even bother messing with a floor safe or lots of expensive shop equipment.   Typical meth heads.   The DogHead fire revealed a number of campsites of dopers living in the forest.   Lots of ways to defeat these thieves once you know their style.

The Torrance County Sheriff showed up 28hrs after one burglary was reported.     If you have a bit of land, might want to walk all of it every few weeks to see if there are people living on it.    Be careful trusting your neighbors, they may be honest, but their dirtbag friends/relatives might like to know your house is unoccupied.   Of course they could just look at real estate listings and see 100+ Torrance properties for sale and 90% of those are vacant and 25% are still furnished.

My brother is up in the Manzanos on our place now, I'll let him know to keep his eyes peeled

Lots of unoccupied places in my AO in Torrance county. I think there are folks busting into these places and living there. Many of these places are owned by banks and are not checked on unless a realtor shows up.

Yep.

My realtor said there were 156 unoccupied homes in Torrance County, around 500 in the east mountains.    I looked at around 200, some were 500K and lavishly furnished, others had tweakers living in them, others had been ruined by thieves that ripped out every bit of copper wire and pipe.   I looked at most of them alone and I always carried.   First clue was the front door being kicked in.

The fire seems to have pushed some forest people into new areas.   I’ve seen smoke from a campsite where there should not be one, very close to my property.   I finally got the firebreak done, now I’m working on a dozen security measures.   The mad scientist in me dreams up some fantastic ideas, and I have the skills, equipment and materials to do them, but it is really easy to overdo it.