MISSOURI CITY, Mo. - The first criminal charges are filed in a stolen property bust in rural Clay County.
Jayne Kasten was charged with endangering a child. She lived on the property with her 8-year-old daughter.
"They took everything and the kitchen sink," said one officer from the Clay County Sheriff's Department as he unloaded a brand-new restaurant-quality commercial grade sink, still in its packing crate. He took it from one of six large shipping crates sitting on a 2-acre lot by the Missouri River.
Authorities weren't surprised, they had already seen tens of thousands of dollars worth of stolen goods before they even opened that crate.
Tuesday night, a dispute between neighbors sent Sheriff's deputies to the property. When the tags from a car came back stolen, the deputies said they started to realize things weren't adding up. In a matter of hours, they had hauled away what Clay County Sheriff Bob Boydston could only describe as a "Home Depot of stolen goods."
But they had to wait for daylight before they could open up the six large storage crates sitting on the property. Now they were even more confused by what they found.
"There is just everything," said Capt. Shauna Craven. "There are old refrigerators, brand new wheels, stereo equipment, used books, all the restaurant equipment, new and used chainsaws, everything."
The remote location made for an ideal dumping site and officials say these goods didn't get here overnight. "This street doesn't even have a name," said Craven. "This didn't just take days or even weeks."
Because of the sheer volume of goods and because the crates would need to be moved by semi-truck, police don't think the man and woman that lived on the property could have acted alone.
Sheriff's officials say the stolen goods come from all over the metro on both the Missouri and Kansas side and beyond.
"We've traced some to Jefferson County, Kansas and some to Bolivar, Missouri," said Craven. The F.B.I. is now helping with the investigation.
Kasten was charged Wednesday afternoon. No charges have been filed yet on the stolen property issue.
