The owner of a stolen trailer and dolly is offering a $10,000 reward for information that leads to their recovery.
Mark Eastwell of Eastwells Haulage in Ipswich, Queensland appealed for help on social media earlier this month after a thief drove away with a 2022 Moore white/red lead drop deck tipper and a 2022 Moore red tri dolly belonging to his company.
They were taken from the Pittsworth road train breakup pad in the Toowoomba region between 10.30am on Friday October 6 and 10.30am on Sunday October 8.
Eastwell’s original Facebook post has been shared hundreds of times and the story was also covered by Big Rigs, but sadly he still has no firm leads on the whereabouts of the trailer and dolly.
He hopes that the reward will encourage someone to come forward.
“I just think someone will have seen it or they’ll know something. I’m just trying to convince them to do the right thing.
“I’m quite happy to give them that money just to get that trailer and dolly back.
“No questions asked, as long as the information leads to me being able to hook up to that trailer and dolly. I just want to get them back, that’s it.”
“I can deliver the reward wherever they want it.”
He said he really appreciates the help of the general public as the search continues.
“There are plenty of people looking, which we are really grateful for.
“We’ve had lots of messages but no firm leads yet.”
Eastwell previously told us that the trailer and dolly are worth about $200,000, and the theft could leave the family business severely out of pocket.
“Although insurance will cover the theft, each year we have to pay a substantial amount to insurance if there were any claims so half of this will just come out of our pocket.”
He described the theft as “unusual”, especially given that it happened over a relatively short space of time and that the road train station is quite centrally located.
“Not too many thefts like this happen anymore,” he said.
“To go so quickly, and at the break down pad – that’s what they’re designed for. It’s right in town, it’s not isolated like some other break down pads.
“It’s not like someone saw them sitting there for a long time.”
He is still holding out hope that the trailer and dolly will be found, as he’s recovered other stolen items in the past.
“About three years ago we had a trailer stolen from the front of our depot and we got it back about three months later because we got a parking fine for it!
“It was still registered in my name so we eventually tracked it down that way.
He laughed: “I’ve never been so happy to receive a parking fine. We had nearly given up hope on that one. So there’s always a chance.”
If anyone has any information or comes across the trailer and dolly, you can call Mark on 0415 169 520 and contact the Queensland Police Service on 131 444.