Police: man sought in cabin break-ins a 'dangerous individual'


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CEDAR CITY — Officials in Iron, Kane and Garfield counties are uniting in their efforts to find a man who they believe has been living in and stealing from cabins in the mountainous regions of their counties for more than three years.

"He does a substantial amount of damage," Iron County Sheriff Mark Gower said of the individual. "He lives in (the cabins), eats all the food he can find, burns their firewood, burns their propane up, steals a lot of stuff. In some cabins, he's shot up the walls with a gun. He's just a very dangerous individual."

Police: man sought in cabin break-ins a 'dangerous individual'

On Wednesday, police released photos of the man, who was clothed in camouflage, toting a rifle and wearing snowshoes. A cabin owner who set up a game camera following a break-in at his property captured the photos.

"We feel this is the guy we're looking for," Gower said. "We're hoping to get this picture out, hoping somebody will recognize him, give us a name so we can dial in on him and put a stop to this."

Gower said the man has been on law enforcement radar since 2008, when cabin break-ins were reported more and more frequently and began to take on a "distinct pattern." The man has been known to take guns, clothes, shoes and even cooking utensils from the cabins he enters.

"We didn’t know what we were up against until we started seeing some real patterns," Gower said. "It's been very frustrating. We'd like to catch up to him. We've put a lot of man-hours into this — spending the day in the mountains several times following leads and trying to track him down. People will probably never realize how much time we've spent."

It is believed he spends his summers outside camping and uses the cabins only in the winters. Only one individual has reported an actual encounter with the burglar and reported that the man he spoke with was "stand-offish" and wanted to "disengage."


Anyone with information about the man is asked to contact the investigations division at the Iron County Sheriff's Office at 435-867-7500 or submit their tip online.

Gower asked that property owners returning to their cabins this winter or spring not to approach the man should they believe he may be inside their home.

"Please back way and do not confront this individual," Gower said. "We don’t know what extreme measures he'll use to escape. We just ask that people be a good witness and not engage him. We don’t know his mental state or what he's capable of."

Anyone with information about the man is asked to contact the investigations division at the Iron County Sheriff's Office at 435-867-7500 or submit their tip online.

Email:emorgan@ksl.com

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