200-foot radio tower stolen in Alabama: 'I thought I had seen it all'
FILE - radio transmission towers (Photo by Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
JASPER, Ala. - Police are searching for the thieves who stole a 200-foot tall tower in Alabama and left a local AM radio station off air.
The general manager of WJLX, the radio station where the tower was stolen, said he learned about the theft on Feb. 2 when a maintenance crew arrived to clean up the property, "only to find it completely cleared out by the thieves."
"I’ve been trying all weekend to make sense of it, but I just can’t. I’ve been involved in the radio business my whole life, and I’ve never heard of anything like this. I thought I had seen it all," Brett Elmore said.
"When he called me on Friday and said, ‘the tower is gone,’ I couldn’t believe it. I asked him if he was sure he was at the right place. He responded, ‘the tower is gone. Wires are scattered everywhere,’" Elmore recalled.
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The station asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for permission to remain on FM air while they rebuild the AM radio operations, but the FCC denied their request.
"This is a major setback for a small operation like ours, but I have faith that we will uncover the culprits. This is a federal crime, and they will realize it wasn’t worth it," Elmore said.
The station has started a GoFundMe page to help with rebuilding. Police are investigating.