200-foot radio station tower stolen without a trace in Alabama, silencing small town’s voice

JASPER, Ala. — The theft of a massive radio tower has silenced the voices of a small Alabama town and surrounding county, the station’s general manager said.

A thief or thieves made off with the 200-foot tower, knocking out WJLX radio in Jasper, Alabama. No arrests have been made so far.

“The slogan of our station is the sound of Walker County, and with our station offline, the community has lost its sound and voice,” WJLX general manager Brett Elmore told The Associated Press. “This hurts, and it hurts our community.”

The theft was discovered on February 2, when a maintenance crew arrived at the wooded area where the tower once stood and found it missing. They also discovered that every transmitting device stored in a nearby building had also been stolen.

“To break into my building and steal all my equipment and the tower?” Elmore said. “Hell, leave me the tower; it’s the most expensive thing to replace.”

Elmore said he suspects the tower’s tension wire was cut first, causing the structure to fall to the ground. Then he thinks it was cut into smaller pieces and taken away. “With some pretty simple tools you can get at Home Depot, you can fix this in no time,” he said.

The station had no insurance for the tower or its equipment, and he estimates it will cost $60,000 to $100,000 to rebuild. “We’re a small market and we don’t have that much money,” he said.

Elmore has heard from people across the country hoping to help, and a GoFundMe page has been launched online to raise donations. He said he was reluctant to start the fundraiser, but a friend told him to put his pride aside if people were willing to help. By Friday afternoon, more than $1,100 had been raised.

The AM station has been on the air since the mid-1950s, and Elmore’s quarter century in radio continues the work his father did at the station before him.

“It’s more than a job and radio,” he said. “This is just part of who I am.”

Jasper police are investigating, spokeswoman Rachel Karr said Friday. In a statement, police said the theft was reported to police on February 2, but the date and time of the crime are not known. Police are looking for tips from the public.

Elmore now hopes to get back on the air somehow.

“We will succeed,” he said. “I have to maintain the confidence that we will succeed.”