‘Not scared of the feds.’ Texas men looted Native American artifacts, feds say
He was warned, authorities say.
The Texas man posted a Facebook photo of himself showing off artifacts after illegally excavating a Native American site north of Amarillo, authorities say.
The homestead site on a bluff overlooking the Canadian River once was home to the Antelope Creek Culture, a people credited with bringing early agriculture to what’s now the Texas Panhandle from 1200 to 1500.
The Canadian River is the only region in the U.S. with Alibates Flint, a rock with “striking colors” used by mammoth hunters and essential to survival and trade on the plains for 13,000 years, officials say.
A Facebook user commented on a photo of the man holding Alibates Flint, saying the area “he is digging in is federal land and Rangers enforce (there).”
“I’m not scared of the feds,” he replied.
After learning of the illegal excavating in March 2019, federal authorities started investigating.
They analyzed fingerprints in the photo to identify the man as 37-year-old San Marcos resident Jeffrey Alan Vance. Another man in the photos was identified as Dax Wheatley, 32, of Amarillo.
According to authorities, Vance and Wheatley posted photos of themselves digging at archaeological sites in Texas.
Vance also posted photos of human remains he dug up with burial beads, authorities say.
“(He) bragged that someday he would put the dead bodies back together and would display them in his ‘secret artifact lair,’” authorities wrote in court documents. “When asked if what he is doing is legal, Vance replied, ‘haha, no.’”
In November 2019, authorities executed search warrants at the homes of Vance and Wheatley.
Vance admitted to possessing human remains and burial beads at his home but denied excavating or selling them, authorities say.
But a forensic analysis revealed Vance discussed the sale of Native American artifacts and remains and referred to himself as an “infamous illegal excavator of Native American artifacts in Texas” and “a criminal.”
During the search of Wheatley’s home, authorities reporting seeing a photo of the illegal excavation site near Amarillo taped onto his refrigerator. About 125 cubic feet of dirt was removed from two pits at the site, authorities say.
Vance and Wheatley pleaded guilty this week to illegally excavating about 1,500 artifacts from federal land. They could go to prison for up to two years.
The Bureau of Land Management is consulting with tribes to return the remains and artifacts.
“Looting from federal lands will always trigger swift enforcement action,” Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Prerak Shah said in a news release. “The Justice Department will not stand for the theft of precious cultural artifacts.”
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