Post by LawrenceCoBowhunter on May 24, 2007 7:58:53 GMT -5
Thief swipes mastodon jawbone
By BOB BRIDGE, bob@tmnews.com
WILLIAMS — Someone has stolen a mastodon jaw from White River Bait & Tackle.
Chris Amstutz said the thief or thieves gained entry though a window and made off with the jaw and some other relics on display.
“I don’t think they were professionals,” he said. “They dropped some stuff along the way. I’m guessing it was some kids.”
Amstutz discovered the jaw while diving for mussels with Randy Cornett in a remote area of the White River in August 1988.
“I saw two little rows of bumps running parallel with each other,” he recalled. “At first I thought it was some type of concrete block.”
Amstutz brushed sand away to inspect the find.
“There was no doubt in my mind it was a tooth, and it was bigger than any tooth I’d ever seen,” he said.
He used a screwdriver to loosen the gravel around the jaw.
“Randy got on one side of it and I got on the other,” he said. “We picked it up real easy and sat it on the side of the boat.”
Amstutz later took the artifact to Ron Richards, curator of paleobiology with the Indiana State Museum. He confirmed the find was a mastodon jaw.
Thousands viewed the jaw while it was on display in the bait shop.
Amstutz’s wife, Sherry, said they are offering a reward for anyone who assists in the return of the jaw and conviction of whoever took it.
Anyone with information about the jaw should contact the Lawrence County sheriff.
By BOB BRIDGE, bob@tmnews.com
WILLIAMS — Someone has stolen a mastodon jaw from White River Bait & Tackle.
Chris Amstutz said the thief or thieves gained entry though a window and made off with the jaw and some other relics on display.
“I don’t think they were professionals,” he said. “They dropped some stuff along the way. I’m guessing it was some kids.”
Amstutz discovered the jaw while diving for mussels with Randy Cornett in a remote area of the White River in August 1988.
“I saw two little rows of bumps running parallel with each other,” he recalled. “At first I thought it was some type of concrete block.”
Amstutz brushed sand away to inspect the find.
“There was no doubt in my mind it was a tooth, and it was bigger than any tooth I’d ever seen,” he said.
He used a screwdriver to loosen the gravel around the jaw.
“Randy got on one side of it and I got on the other,” he said. “We picked it up real easy and sat it on the side of the boat.”
Amstutz later took the artifact to Ron Richards, curator of paleobiology with the Indiana State Museum. He confirmed the find was a mastodon jaw.
Thousands viewed the jaw while it was on display in the bait shop.
Amstutz’s wife, Sherry, said they are offering a reward for anyone who assists in the return of the jaw and conviction of whoever took it.
Anyone with information about the jaw should contact the Lawrence County sheriff.
