What started as a stolen license plate report on Tuesday led investigators to a stolen car and another incident in September.
Salina Police Captain Paul Forrester said this morning that on Tuesday, an officer was sent to the 2800 block of Linda Lane for the report of a stolen license plate. Justin Fischer, 28, reported that the license plate for his Ford Focus -- 582 FZZ -- and been stolen and replaced with another plate: 104 EDA, Forrester said. That replacement plate was traced back to a 1997 GMC Sierra owned by PKM Steel Service, Inc., 228 East Avenue A, he said.
Personnel at PKM Steel, located just south of Salina, told authorities that the pickup in question had been out of service since September, and it is believed the license plate was stolen then, Forrester said.
Information about the correct tag for Fischer's car was put out to other law enforcement agencies and the Barton County Sheriff's Office got a hit early this morning, Forrester explained. The tag was located at approximately 3:40 a.m. this morning on a 2019 Ford Edge that was parked at Applebee's in Great Bend, he said.
As it turns out, the Ford Edge, valued at just under $25,000, was traced back to the Long McArthur dealership in Salina, where it had been stolen in the last few days, Forrester said.
At this time, there are no suspects, he added.