<\/p>\n
A beloved Airstream camper stolen from the Dolores River Campground has been recovered and is back home.<\/p>\n
The restored 1953 Airstream Flying Cloud decked out in 1950s d\u00e9cor is a popular rental at the Dolores River Campground, owned by Billy and Lainey Beyhan.<\/p>\n
The couple was shocked when they discovered the morning of Aug. 12 that their favorite rental had disappeared. The 19-foot classic camper trailer was unoccupied when it was hitched to a vehicle and stolen late at night as campers slept nearby.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it was maybe a joke at first, then devastation hit when I realized what happened,\u201d said Billy Beyhan.<\/p>\n
But a social media blast by the Beyhans and the well-connected Airstream community alerted a California dealer who had just purchased the camper from a dubious seller from Cortez.<\/p>\n
Jerod Saiz, a California vintage trailer dealer, saw a Facebook post about the stolen Airstream from Dolores and contacted the owners.<\/p>\n
He phoned the Beyhans on Aug. 15 and told them he had their camper in San Pedro California, according to the Montezuma County incident report.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are so grateful and thankful for his honesty,\u201d said Beyhan, who drove to California to retrieve the \u201cFlying Cloud\u201d Airstream home.<\/p>\n
After interviewing Saiz, suspect Elizabeth Ann Rogers, of Cortez, was identified, according to the Montezuma County Sheriff\u2019s Office incident report.<\/p>\n
Rogers was arrested and jailed last week on criminal charges in the case, said county Sheriff Steve Nowlin. She has an appearance on bond hearing Sept. 22.<\/p>\n
According to the incident report, on Aug. 12, at 12:04 a.m. \u2013 the night it went missing \u2013 Rogers allegedly contacted Saiz about an Airstream trailer she had for sale.<\/p>\n
Rogers said she had the title and that she had been given the trailer by a woman named \u201cMaureen\u201d as payment for a debt.<\/p>\n
Saiz met Rogers at an address in Cortez the next day then followed her and another man to a residence south of Durango where the stolen Airstream was located, according to the report.<\/p>\n
Rogers agreed to sell it to Saiz for $7,500, according to the report. But Rogers could not produce the title and said she would send it to him later.<\/p>\n
When he saw the Facebook post days later that the Airstream he bought was stolen property, Saiz demanded Rogers refund the money, and she wired him $4,741.<\/p>\n
When the Beyhans picked up their Airstream in San Pedro, California, it was in decent condition, although a window had been broken and some of the 1950s d\u00e9cor was missing.<\/p>\n
It is now back in operation as a rental, and with a new hitch lock. The campground also plans to install security cameras.<\/p>\n
The couple spent $3,000 restoring it, and it was recently appraised for $25,000. They gave Saiz a $1,000 reward.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe power of social media helped to bring it back,\u201d Billy Beyhan said.<\/p>\n