Authorities say missing guns unlikely to be hidden in Pike County

PETERSBURG, Ind. (WEHT) — Authorities say three people have confessed to a rash of gun thefts. The police think one of them is lying.

Last month, Eyewitness News reported that missing guns were hidden on Sugar Ridge Road north of Winslow, but police believe that was a lie.

Last month, Alexzander Weyerbacher admitted to breaking into cars, stealing guns and hiding them in tarps on Sugar Ridge Road. The authorities believe this is a false confession. McDonald doesn't know why Weyerbacher would lie.

“We have yet to find out why he would have made these confessions with details and specifics about where these tarps are because he knew the locations,” McDonald said. “They end up being just one big fantasy story. So we don't know, and it's confusing.

Weyerbacher initially told police he stole the guns from Otwell, but detectives say surveillance video shows him at a convenience store on W. Main Street in Petersburg.

Weyerbacher's theft charges were dropped and he is charged with false reporting.

“Normally in false confessions you see maybe someone who is very impressionable, and they're in a situation where they're under a lot of pressure for many, many hours,” McDonald says. “It didn’t happen that way. So it’s even more surprising.

Some of the stolen guns were recovered in Daviess County, Indiana. Ted Henry Petit-Frere and Brayton White eventually told police they were the ones who stole the guns.

“A search warrant was carried out at Mr. Frère’s residence and a magazine matching one of the pistols was found at the residence. An interview was done with him and he also admitted it. Again, no connection to Mr. Weyerbacher.

After the sheriff's office searched Sugar Ridge Road for a few weeks — going so far as to fish for guns on magnets in streams — McDonald thinks it's unlikely any missing guns are there.

Weyerbacher is under house arrest and White and Petit-Frere are both incarcerated in the Pike County Jail.