Although a report on wibc.com initially spoke of 20,000 apples being stolen last week from a Northwest Indiana apple orchard, later reports determined it was closer to 50,000 apples that were stolen. The owner of the Williams Orchard in LaPorte County, Jon Drummond, discovered an entire section of trees picked clean. The apples that disappeared were worth $30,000.
Owners believe the thieves put down tarps and shook the trees, hauling apples away. “I still can’t believe it,” said Drummond. “There’s just so many apples gone.” The stolen apples were actually only about 5 percent of the orchard’s crop. Drummond said they had just recently installed a new fence, but that he had not put the locks in yet.
Police told the press they have a suspect, based on a truck seen at the orchard after closing time on Sept. 18. The suspect is a man who makes and sells apple cider and, during a recent visit to the orchard, asked if anyone lived in a house on the property, police said.
The retail value of the stolen apples was about $27,000.
