Stolen trailer finds its way back to Boy Scouts

A man who bought it on Craigslist returned it after realizing it was stolen, but not until after the Scouts camped without their gear.

Last update: October 23, 2007 - 9:21 PM

The theft of their camping trailer didn't stop a Hmong Boy Scout troop from taking a weekend hike along Lake Superior, but the Scouts were happy to recover the trailer Tuesday, thanks to an honest citizen.

Scoutmaster Dave Moore retrieved the trailer Tuesday from a man who unknowingly bought it on the Craigslist website. The $4,000 trailer and its contents were stolen last week from a parking lot in St. Paul where it was being stored for the troop, which meets at Westminster Presbyterian Church in downtown Minneapolis. Camping stoves, tents and gear stored in the trailer are still missing.

When the unwitting buyer called the scoutmaster after discovering it was stolen, Moore's reaction was "relief and disbelief," he said. Moore said the buyer had been a bit suspicious of the seller and kept his e-mail information, a lead that police are pursuing. No arrests have been made, said police spokesman Tom Walsh.

Moore said the buyer, a south Minneapolis man who didn't want to be identified, was out $1,600. He had called Brinkman's dealership in Delano, where the trailer was bought, to register it. When the dealer checked the vehicle's identification number and realized it was the missing trailer, he asked the man to come in person for the new registration, then called police.

Meanwhile, Troop 100, about 50 Hmong Scouts, improvised without their trailer on a North Shore hike last weekend. But it took an extra day to get organized and cram the gear the Scouts rounded up into the troop bus, Moore said.

"We scrounged up some cook kits and cooked on wood fires," Moore said. "We hiked seven miles on the Superior Hiking Trail along Wolf Ridge. It was beautiful. We just made the best of it."

Moore said he's not sure how they will replace the lost gear, which also is used by a second troop sponsored by Westminster. "We sell wreaths and fruit, and that's how we raise our money," he said. "I guess we will sell more wreaths and fruit."

JIM ADAMS AND PAUL WALSH

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