Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
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Ashley Hayes ReportingThis story will take you back to the days when the West was wild. It sounds like an old western movie, but cattle rustling is very much a modern day crime and is becoming a major problem in Utah.
In an age where most Utahns' cattle experience is limited to the car window, herds blend into pastoral landscapes, stretching hundreds of highway miles.
Cows look small as you're driving by them, but each small speck on the horizon is a big dollar sign.
John Kimball, Livestock Theft Investigator: "Ya know, the average cattle thief gets more money than a bank robber."
It seems like a scenario from an old western -- a cowboy investigator, a sheriff and angry ranchers missing valuable livestock.
John Kimball: "I think there's been cattle thieves as long as there's been cattle."
A retired cop, Kimball says now more than ever thieves are picking off small slick or unbranded calves that can fit in the back of a car. And in many cases, thieves even go for the big cows, loading them in large stock trailers.
Rustlers stole from Nephi Cattleman Reid Jarrett. They took seven pair of branded cattle. That's 14 cows and calves, the equivalent of 15-thousand dollars.
They drove up on Jarrett's property at night with truck and trailer. Because Jarrett's cattle go to the corral to get water, authorities think it was relatively easy for thieves to gather them up inside a fenced area.
Reid Jarrett, Nephi Cattleman: "It's a lot of revenue. It's hard to bounce back from, something like that. That's a herd of cattle is what that is."
And one, Juab Sheriff Alden Orme, aims to solve.
Sheriff Alden Orme, Juab County Sheriff's Office: "It's a crime that shouldn't happen. Law enforcement and the department of agriculture is going to work hard to put a stop to this."
Ten months ago the state allocated funds to create the livestock theft investigating position Kimball heads up.
He's helped sheriffs offices throughout the state investigate more than 30 cases, worth more than a quarter of a million dollars, and he's backlogged with reports.
John Kimball: "Since I've had this job in September, I've honestly decided it's a lot bigger problem than even I thought."
But the word is out, and back on Jarrett's ranch a small calf's distressed cries for his lost twin don't last long.
Reid Jarrett: "I think we made 'em real nervous to bring them back this quick."
Kimball and Orme create enough heat, a few days later the thieves return the cattle at night. Lucky for this rancher, he counts a full herd�
Alden Orme: "We work these cases until the cows come back home."
And then some. The theft is still under investigation, and until this question can be answered...
John Kimball: "Where they're going, I don't know."
...Kimball will load up his horse and haul off into the sunset looking for modern day bad guys who hope their crimes will go unnoticed, like the tiny dots on mile after mile of Utah highways.
The return of cattle rustling in the west is tied to another trend, rising methamphetamine use. Police say cattle theft is just another in a long and growing list of property crimes committed to support a meth habit.
Tomorrow morning on Eyewitness News Today, we'll show you what police are discovering about these thefts.
