FAIRBANKS — Four people suspected of stealing a loaded 500-pound safe from a home in North Pole have been indicted on felony burglary and theft charges.
The safe in the home’s garage contained nearly $100,000 in coins, jewelry and guns.
Authorities got a break in the case when a shop that buys precious metals reported that three suspects sold coins from the home.
The Fairbanks grand jury last week indicted Frederick Stowell, 58, Kayla Forsland, 26, Johnie Flecher, 38, and Shanon Stowell, 24, all of North Pole.
They were arraigned Wednesday, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (http://bit.ly/2lBEnrK) reported.
The theft was discovered Jan. 22. A man checking his parents’ home found it had been burglarized and ransacked.
Troopers determined thieves pried open the side door to the home’s garage, drove in a vehicle and used an automotive jack to load the safe.
The 58-inch-tall safe likely weighed 600-800 pounds loaded, prosecutors said. More coins and prescription drugs were taken from the ransacked house.
Troopers recovered the safe several miles away.
The owner of Gold Buyers of Alaska on Feb. 2 notified troopers that Flecher and Frederick Stowell had sold the shop nearly $5,000 in gold and silver coins. Forsland that night sold the store $1,800 in coins.
Troopers stopped Forsland and Shanon Stowell in their sport utility vehicle and found rare coins, a pry bar, a reciprocating saw, a hacksaw and a drill. Troopers matched tire tracks from the SUV to tracks at the ransacked home, prosecutors said.
The owner of the safe identified the recovered coins.
Troopers recovered more coins at Frederick Stowell’s home. They found coins and one of the stolen guns at the home of Shanon Stowell and Forsland.
Hundreds of other coins and 20 guns remain missing.
