Man finds his stolen SUV with help from Google Earth

Mike Krumboltz
Recovered SUV (image: George County Sheriff's Office)

So, there's this guy. He's minding his own business, just scanning Google Earth for a good hunting spot. While perusing the Interwebs, he notices something a little fishy, something that looks like an illegal hunting shack.

The man sets out to investigate with his son. When they get to the coordinates, the man makes an even stranger discovery — what he thought was a hunting shack was actually his SUV that had been stolen in March, according to a report from ABC News.

Yahoo News spoke with Shonna Pierce, public information officer for the George Country Sheriff's Office. Pierce explained the SUV was found on property that's adjacent to the property owned by the victim. "But he's the only one who is allowed to hunt on the land," Pierce said.

Pierce said the SUV was so well-hidden under the brush that the man and his son were 10 feet away before they realized they were looking at a vehicle.

When the SUV was first reported missing, a search was made, but "it was like it literally fell off the face of the Earth," said Pierce.

George County Sheriff Dean Howell told WLOX the SUV was found near an old logging road, which the thief or thieves might have used to park the SUV.

As for the SUV, it was later pulled from the brush with the help of some heavy equipment and appeared to be in decent shape, according to Pierce. An investigation into the theft is ongoing, she said.