Missoula Police Warn Public After Five Snowmobile Thefts in Three Days

The Missoula Police Department is on alert for snowmobile thieves after multiple cases of the theft have occurred in town. Five machines were stolen over the course of just three days, starting on Wednesday, February 3. Along with the snowmobiles, three snowmobile trailers were also stolen.

"We feel that somebody is out, definitely targeting snowmobiles, and that if people do have snowmobiles on their property or stored somewhere in the city, and there is access to them, they may be at risk. We wanted to let people know so that they could take extra precautions," said Missoula Police Public Information Officer Travis Welsh.

Two of the machines have been found, apparently in working conditions, but there are few clues to who took them. All of the cases so far have occurred on the south side of town. Although five machines were taken, they were often taken in pairs over the course of at least three incidents.

"Right now, the cases seem to be coming from the south end of town," Welsh said. "We had one report from the 1400 block of S. 4th street, one report from the 600 block of Dixon, and the last one we took in was from the 1300 block of Paxon. The two snowmobiles we recovered were located in the Grant Creek area."

So far there are no suspects, or video of the snowmobiles being taken. It appears that the machines are being taken with their trailers by backing a vehicle up to the hitch, hooking up, and then driving away.

Update: 3:00 p.m. February 5th, two more snowmobiles and a trailer have been recovered after being abandoned in the 3500 block of W. Broadway. Still no suspects.