It sounds like the plot from a B-grade Western movie. Two bumbling crooks break into a cowboy camp and steal stuff. Give them imaginative names like “Dusty” and “Roxanne.” The trick is, the story is true, and a trail camera set up by park rangers filmed the crooks. The “set” was the Cowboy Camp in Utah’s Canyonlands National Park. Now Dusty and Roxanne, the alleged Cowboy Camp Crooks, are on the hook and headed into court.
Cowboy Camp crooks caught on camera
As we reported last March, the Park Service asked for help in rounding up two people involved in an archeological theft incident. The clever “Big Brother watches” trail cam was deployed at Cave Springs Cowboy Camp in the Needles District of the park.
Caught on video, the pair entered a signed-as-closed area. From there they removed artifacts from a cabinet and handled historic harnesses in a manner that had the potential to damage them.
Park Service makes a roundup
It took a bit, but now Roxanne McKnight, 39, and Dusty Spencer, 43, both from Durango, Colorado, are up on charges of trespassing, disrupting, and stealing from that historic site. The U.S. Justice Department charged them on Monday for the March 23, 2024, incident. The alleged Cowboy Camp Crooks have been caught and charged.
They are charged with theft of government property of less than $1,000, possessing or distributing cultural or archaeological resources, and walking on or entering archaeological or cultural resources.
Dusty and Roxanne have a date with a judge in U.S. District Court in Moab, Utah, this Friday. And like the Justice Department says, “Any information is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”
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It was smart of the Park Service to use the cameras. Maybe this is SOP for them, or it should be. I have suggested using them to a neighbor that had problems with vandalism on their property with someone trying to break into their garage. It worked. Took less than a week to get the three kids pictures. The three were charged as juveniles and the parents were made to pay for the damage.
Go to jail, directly to jail, do not collect $200. I think 5 years will reinforce “thou shalt not steal.”
Stupid is as Stupid does.
Play stupid games win stupid prizes!!
Nope, they’re guilty. Go directly to jail, do not collect $200.
Thank you, Russ and Tina, for updating the story. Have a great day and safe travels!