SALYERSVILLE – Through a tip given the day after Your News Today aired on Monday, a stolen camper out of Slade was recovered and one arrest has been made.
On Monday, September 27, Kentucky State Police Post 8 of Morehead contacted Mortimer Media Group concerning a stolen camper that officers believed may have traveled through Salyersville, with police asking the community if they had seen it.
KSP stated the camper reportedly had been stolen from the Slade area. Trooper Haney’s investigation determined that it was last seen in Magoffin County, with surveillance footage from local businesses showing the stolen camper in Salyersville on September 14.
Surveillance footage in the Slade area showed an older model Chevrolet van with a window air conditioner in the back window leave a gas station, then hitched up to a Kodiak tow-behind camper at the rest area.
The van/camper combo was then seen in surveillance footage the carwash on Restaurant Row in Salyersville. The two people on video exiting the vehicle in Salyersville were also caught on camera in the gas station they stopped at in Slade.
The morning after Your News Today aired, owned and operated by Salyersville Independent owner and publisher Ritt Mortimer, law enforcement was called by a viewer in Johnson County, having seen the stolen camper, with the tip leading to police finding it in the Flat Gap area.
Johnson County Sheriff Doug Saylor told Mortimer Media Group, “I think some of your viewers are the ones that located the vehicle and gave us the anonymous tip. We want to express our greatest gratitude. Without them, this couldn’t have happened.”
The caller told police the van showed on YNT Monday was located at the Country Corner Store off of Rt. 201. As JCSO traveled toward the store, they passed the van on 201 and stopped the vehicle at B-Mart.
Their investigation led them to Ross Branch, off of Rt. 172, where they arrested John Peter Paul, age 50, of Lexington, who is currently charged with buying or possessing drug paraphernalia, possession of marijuana, no insurance and theft charges pending. He is currently being held by the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center.
The female who was with Paul at the time has been questioned by police and was not taken into custody as of press time.
Saylor also thanked JCSO Deputy Tim Clark, and Troopers Jimmy Stratton and Zach Haney with the Kentucky State Police.
Editor’s Note: The indictment or charge of a person by a grand jury or otherwise is an accusation only and that person is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
