Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have some great news to report about the ball python theft that occurred at the end of January 2004.
I have been told by the detectives that I can't give any details, I am sorry but it might jeopardize the case. I will give all the details as soon as the criminal case is wrapped up. I don't think that will be too long.
What I can say it that earlier this week there was an arrest made. The arrest led to the recovery of most of my stolen snakes. All the expensive snakes were recovered. (mojave, spider, pastels, pied, ghosts) The thief should be looking at a couple felony charges and some time in jail. I can't say what charges will be filed yet, the police and DA are still putting all that together.
I think that is about all I can say right now. Someone got nailed and I got my snakes back, that sums it up.
I will give all the details as soon as I can. It is a pretty funny story and I have a lot of people to thank. I can't thank them now as I don't want everyone hounding them trying to get info. Anyone who does know any details or who was involved in the arrest please keep it all quiet for a little longer.
The people I can thank are all the people who showed such support for my wife and I. It has been a tough 8 months but I am so happy this is over. I know I have been absent from most of the forums and the reptile community. I was actually always around, I did not want the thief to constantly see my name on posts. I wanted him to feel comfortable trying to move the snakes. Now I can come back!
The snakes are back with me and that feels great!
I can't really answer any questions about the case so if you have anything else to ask, please do. As for the reward, we won't have the opportunity to see how many of the pledges would still be good. The reward will NOT be collected. I got my snakes back and that is reward enough! I can't say more than that without talking about how the bust went down. To clarify the reward, it was an amount of money PLEDGED for the arrest of these thieves. There was never any money collected, it was done on an honor system. If there would have been people on the list that were unable to fulfill their responsibilities I would have covered their pledges. It is not really an issue now but I wanted to clear any questions up now. I never received one penny as a result of this theft.
Thanks again for all your support.
Jeff and Rachel Houston

Very good to hear that you got them all back!!

Hey Jeff,

We may not know each other personally but damn what happened to you 8 months ago was horrific and I could only imagine just how you felt.
I'm so happy that that you recovered your stolen animals and I'm looking forward in hearing the whole story with the names of those involved.
I can be contacted at reptiles@serpentsden.com

I bet you can sleep better at night knowing you got your investments back!

Steve Markevich
Serpent's Den

A great day indeed. Glad to hear you got them back. Please give details as soon as you can.
-----
RicK @ BbI

Ball Boutique,Inc.
The home of the singing snakes!

.
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John Light
Pristine Pythons
ristinePythons@Hotmail.com" target="_blank">Contact Me

New Web Site Comming Soon!!!

I'm stoked you got your animals back, man. Great news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Welcome back!!
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Troy James Cromwell

Contact Me

0.1 Bowling Green State University freshman - perfect in every way - 100% problem free.
0.1 Southeastern High School freshman - perfect in every way - 100% problem free.
1.0 USMC 20 yr. old serving our country in Iraq - perfect in every way - 99% problem free.
1.0 Future Linebacker for the Seattle Seahawks (age 6)- testing every inch of my patience and sanity.
1.0 Future point guard for the Indiana Pacers (age 8) - doing the same as his little brother but for two years longer.
0.1 Psycho Girlfriend (age 30) Beautiful...but psycho

Always taking a moment to thank God for another day with my family and friends

How well were the animals taken care of?....were they small and dehydrated or sick or anything or were they well taken care of? Just something that came to mind....don't know why....
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Luke Martin
Bronze Serpent Reptiles

That is a good question, I forgot to mention that. They were mixed, some looked good, others looked bad. The one I was very upset about was the pied female, she was 1500 grams when stolen and 1000 grams when I got her back. She looked bad. The pastels were about the same size as when they were taken, like they were only fed here and there. The mojave and spider were a little bigger but still on the thin side. The ghosts looked pretty good.
The set up was not great, there was no water and the newspsper was dirty... of course there were mites. The 4 pastels ad pied female were all housed together.
They will all make it, for that I am very happy. I think the pied will miss 2005 breeding but at least she is home. She was the first high dollar morph I ever bought and pieds were the reason I started breeding balls in the first place. She was the one snake that I REALLY missed. She ate once already, she'll be fine. (most ate once)
I wish I could give everyone ALL the details! Soon...

Jeff, I'm glad to here you got your snakes back. Good luck with them.

Take care, Kevin

To loose that much weight that quick I bet she laid eggs or at least sluggs. Did they find any babies?

.

np

cool stuff

Thats great news Jeff, I figured they were gone for good. Glad to see I was wrong.

As I grow my collection a bit more every year, I worry more and more about things like this happening. Are you doing anything differently now? Do you have any advise on what kind of security measures to take?

Mark

>>I have some great news to report about the ball python theft that occurred at the end of January 2004.
>>I have been told by the detectives that I can't give any details, I am sorry but it might jeopardize the case. I will give all the details as soon as the criminal case is wrapped up. I don't think that will be too long.
>>What I can say it that earlier this week there was an arrest made. The arrest led to the recovery of most of my stolen snakes. All the expensive snakes were recovered. (mojave, spider, pastels, pied, ghosts) The thief should be looking at a couple felony charges and some time in jail. I can't say what charges will be filed yet, the police and DA are still putting all that together.
>>I think that is about all I can say right now. Someone got nailed and I got my snakes back, that sums it up.
>>I will give all the details as soon as I can. It is a pretty funny story and I have a lot of people to thank. I can't thank them now as I don't want everyone hounding them trying to get info. Anyone who does know any details or who was involved in the arrest please keep it all quiet for a little longer.
>>The people I can thank are all the people who showed such support for my wife and I. It has been a tough 8 months but I am so happy this is over. I know I have been absent from most of the forums and the reptile community. I was actually always around, I did not want the thief to constantly see my name on posts. I wanted him to feel comfortable trying to move the snakes. Now I can come back!
>>The snakes are back with me and that feels great!
>>I can't really answer any questions about the case so if you have anything else to ask, please do. As for the reward, we won't have the opportunity to see how many of the pledges would still be good. The reward will NOT be collected. I got my snakes back and that is reward enough! I can't say more than that without talking about how the bust went down. To clarify the reward, it was an amount of money PLEDGED for the arrest of these thieves. There was never any money collected, it was done on an honor system. If there would have been people on the list that were unable to fulfill their responsibilities I would have covered their pledges. It is not really an issue now but I wanted to clear any questions up now. I never received one penny as a result of this theft.
>>Thanks again for all your support.
>>Jeff and Rachel Houston