8/11/2010Hi Debi,
I don't know if you know but, they found my trailer. It was totally destroyed. You can go to the Greensboro News and Record or the Burlington Times News and enter James Kellam in the search box. A father and son had been stealing trailers for the aluminum. My was retrieve from under a pile of rumble in a wooded area with the VIN number intact. Not good news for me but the men are in jail and most likely well be until their trial which could be about a year from now. Thanks for listing my trailer and trying to help. If you go back on some older posts on my FB page, you can see the remains.
Lisa


So this is what may be happening to all of the stolen trailers. Read the times news articles at the links above and you will know why so many trailers are never seen again.. Here is an excerpt. from the Burlington Times News article:

"Extensive amount of stolen property” was recovered during those searches, including a low boy transport trailer stolen from Charlotte, an enclosed trailer filled with stolen property from Greensboro, a commercial backhoe stolen from Chapel Hill, a transport trailer loaded with tools stolen from Burlington, the remains of a goose-neck trailer stolen from Alamance County and more than 200 tractor trailer wheels and tires."

Theft ring is uncovered, stolen property found

August 05, 2010 5:44 PM

Roselee Papandrea / Times-News 

A father and son were charged Wednesday after the Alamance County Sheriff’s Department uncovered what is described as an “organized theft ring” involving stolen transport trailers sold for scrap metal.

The sheriff’s department received reports of stolen commercial and domestic transport trailers, which they began investigating in early May and were able to develop solid leads on this summer.

“Detectives called all the people who buy metal around the area because they assumed since the trailers didn’t surface that they were chopped up,” said Sheriff Terry Johnson at a press conference at the sheriff’s department Thursday morning.

Investigators recently received information from a scrap metal business in another county that allegedly pointed to Jerry Lynn Kellam, 56, of 2145 Lacy Holt Road, Graham, and James Russell Kellam, 23, of 2333 Lacy Holt Road.

“A suspect was developed, a plane was put in the air and we were able to spot what we call the chop shop area where they were hauling these trailers and other items to and chopping these trailers up and then selling scrap metal to this particular company,” Johnson said.

The plane, which Alamance County shares with sheriff’s departments in Guilford, Davidson and Randolph counties, was used Wednesday morning, and investigators were able to catch the Kellams while they were allegedly working on a stolen trailer.

“Our investigators were able to sneak up on the individuals as they were disassembling these trailers (Wednesday),” Johnson said. “That was made possible because we were able to do the spotting with the airplane up in the air.”

Jerry Kellam was charged with 11 counts of felonious larceny and 12 counts of possession of stolen property. James Kellam was charged with 11 counts of felonious larceny and 13 counts of possession of stolen property. They are both in Alamance County jail under $135,000 bond each.

Three search warrants — one for the residence at 2333 Lacy Holt Road, one for the property at that address and one for 2145 Lacy Holt Road — were executed.

Johnson said an “extensive amount of stolen property” was recovered during those searches, including a low boy transport trailer stolen from Charlotte, an enclosed trailer filled with stolen property from Greensboro, a commercial backhoe stolen from Chapel Hill, a transport trailer loaded with tools stolen from Burlington, the remains of a goose-neck trailer stolen from Alamance County and more than 200 tractor trailer wheels and tires.

A Peterbilt tractor and a Ford dump truck that authorities think were allegedly used to haul the stolen equipment as well as a trackhoe allegedly used to assist the Kellams in disassembling the trailers also were seized.

In some cases, detectives were able to connect the stolen trailers to the owners because sheets of metal taken from the sides of trailers still had company names on them, Johnson said. Authorities estimate that disassembling one trailer takes about a day and the sale of the metal yields about $2,000.

The number of trailers, as well as the distance the Kellams traveled to commit the alleged larcenies remains a mystery. The sheriff’s department has been able to identify one scrap metal business where parts were sold, but Johnson didn’t want to provide the name of the company because the owners are cooperating with authorities.

“We don’t know how many trailers have been stolen and chopped up,” Johnson said.

A crate filled with license plates was recovered during one of the searches that in addition to the number of tires found indicate to investigators that multiple vehicles have been involved.

At this point, Johnson can confirm that more than $100,000 in property has been stolen, but that dollar figure is expected to rise as the investigation continues.

The N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles License and Theft section and the FBI have been contacted. Johnson said if investigators determine that trailers were stolen from other states, the Kellams could possibly face federal charges. Detectives also are working with other law enforcement agencies across the state.

“The detective division is still working extensively in identifying other stolen trailer parts and stolen items,” Johnson said.