I thought some of you may be interested in more correspondence about the USU meteorite theft- Below is the full e-mail ------------- Hi Barrett I will be out of town Wed & Thur, back Fri. Look forward to getting together sometime soon. Dave On Jun 14, 2011, at 6:50 PM, "Barrett" <BarrettWF@comcast.net> wrote: HELLO DAVE, I LIKE TO GET OUT ON MY HARLEY AND RIDE WHEN I CAN. THE RIDE TO LOGAN IS A GREAT RIDE AND I HAVE TO MAKE A TRIP TO TREMONTON ANYWAY- PROBABLY THURSDAY. HOW ABOUT IF I DROP THEM OFF TO YOU PERSONALLY, AS I’D LIKE TO MEET YOU ANYWAY. IF YOU CAN GIVE ME A TIME, PREFERABLY LATE MORNING OR EARLY AFTERNOON, THAT WOULD BE GREAT! DIRK HAD TOLD ME AFTER I SENT YOU THE MESSAGE THAT HE HAD ALREADY BEEN WORKING WITH YOU BEHIND THE SCENE. THE METEORITE COMMUNITY IS CLOSE AND TIGHT KNIT, SO WE ALWAYS TRY TO HELP WHEN WE CAN. THANKS, BARRETT From: Dave Liddell [mailto:dave.liddell@usu.edu] Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2011 3:28 PM To: Barrett Subject: Re: Stolen Meteorites Hi Barrett, Thanks you for your condolences and offer of additional specimens. The good news is that almost all of our mineral specimens were recovered when the thief was turned in by his acquaintances for the reward we offered. Unfortunately one of our meteorites was apparently sold (thief claims that it was stolen from him after he stole it from us!). The one we lost was: IRON METEORITE, Xiquipilco, (Toluca) Mexico, Weight: 437 grams, purchase from: Nininger. I am hoping to build a museum within one of our rooms next to our main office so the specimens will not be left in cases in the hallway. We currently have a small (100 gm) stony meteorite and a nice polished slab (160gm) of a stony-iron meteorite. Any additional specimens would be most appreciated. We can be reached at Department of Geology, 4505 Old Main Hill, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322-4505. Best wishes and thanks! Dave Liddell P.S. I have been in contact with your friend Dirk. On 6/10/2011 5:44 PM, Barrett wrote: Dear Dr. Liddell, I just found out about the stolen meteorites and would like to express my sorry over this. I am a professional meteorite hunter and collector here in SLC. I recently was a guest lecturer on meteorite hunting at UofU. I do not have an impressive or large collection, but I would like to offer a few smaller meteorites to help restoc k your collection. If you are interested, let me know and I w ill send a few to you, along with the specimen cards. I have a few uNWAxxx ’ s, a CV3 from the Steve Arnold Meteorite Men on TV) collection, Nantan Irons, stony Namibia, etc. At this time I don ’ t have any U T AH ’ s available, but hopefully the deserts & lake beds will dry up so on , and I can find some more. Do you happen to have any photographs of the stolen meteorites that I can put out to other collectors and hunters? Just let me know if you are interested in them and a shipping address, and I will get them off to you. A website that is run by a close friend of mine, DIRK ROSS may also be another good source for you. http://lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.com/ Barrett & Roxanne Flowers Our Online Store- http://stores.ebay.com/FallenStarHunters website- www.FallenStarHunters.com METEORITE RECOVERY TEAM SLC, UT Barrett@FallenStarHunters.com -----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Barrett Sent: Friday, June 10, 2011 9:07 PM To: 'Utah Astronomy' Subject: [Utah-astronomy] BOLO- Stolen USU Meteorites http://www.ksl.com/?sid=15818889&nid=148 <-- link to the story and video! Mammoth teeth, meteorites stolen from USU geology building June 3rd, 2011 @ 12:45pm By Mary Richards LOGAN, UTAH -- Police are trying to track down a man suspected of stealing an estimated $3,000 worth of minerals, meteorites and mammoth teeth from the geology department at Utah State University. Department head David Liddell said the thief smashed through a basement window of the Geology Building last Saturday night and stole items from several glass cases -- leaving behind some blood. Among the items lost -- 10 fossils, 25 minerals and an iMac computer and printer. "These are rocks and minerals which are pretty heavy," said Liddell. "They would be hard to carry off. But we did lose somewhere between $1,500 and $3,000 worth of specimens." "If someone sees an individual with a dozen samples of fluorite sitting out, they could be a good suspect. Also if they see a mammoth tooth or Macedon tooth -- these are large elephant teeth -- that would be a pretty suspicious thing." -Dave Liddell Police were able to get a description of the suspect. According to Liddell, a doctorate student saw a thin man about 6 feet 3 inches tall with dark eyes enter the building Saturday night. Police say he was wearing a green and white beanie and had cuts on his face -- possibly from breaking through glass. Liddell says the person responsible likely doesn't have much expertise in the field of geology. Most of the items stolen were common minerals that could be found along the side of the road, while several valuable items -- such as a large mammoth tusk believed to be from the Ice Age -- were left behind. "Maybe it's just these were pretty samples and now this person has them on their dinner table or bookshelf at home," Liddell said. For now, Liddell says department officials are monitoring websites to see if any of the items are posted for sale. He is asking the public to keep an eye out as well. "If someone sees an individual with a dozen samples of fluroite sitting out, they could be a good suspect," he said. "Also if they see a mammoth tooth or Macedon tooth -- these are large elephant teeth -- that would be a pretty suspicious thing." The geology department is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Barrett & Roxanne Flowers Our Online Store- http://stores.ebay.com/FallenStarHunters website- www.FallenStarHunters.com METEORITE RECOVERY TEAM SLC, UT BarrettWF@comcast.net _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php