Biggest Mystery Ever - Solved!

 Well, technically speaking, it may not have been the biggest one since the beginning of time, but for me it was the most mystifying mystery I have ever read about. In a county close by, someone snuck up on 30,000 chickens and then came back later and stole 15,000 more. You can read about the original chicken caper in The Great Huron County Chicken Heist(s). Apparently (and, of course always allegedly) it was an inside job as you will learn from the sources below and we are all eager to know where exactly the chickens were kept inside. 

Large Larcenies Continue to be a Problem
    A litany of them was offered in Large Larcenies. Lest you think that you can rest easy, even in a rural area, that is not the case. Rustlers have returned to Colorado as this headline indicates: "Nearly 200 Cows Disappeared: The Case Remains Cold," Karin Brulliard, The Washington Post, April 9, 2025.
   Even sheep aren't safe, even in England where there are also rustlers: "Hundreds of Sheep Stolen as Livestock Rustlers Target, UK Farms," Aleksandra Cupriak, Farmers Guide, March 6, 2024. Like cars in Toronto, farming equipment is also being nicked: "The Landscape is Centuries Old. The Crime is More Modern," Stephen Castle, NYT, April 22, 2025.
'In rural England, increasingly sophisticated farming equipment has become a target for thieves, adding to pressure on farming communities....Farms can be lucrative targets for thieves, because of the value of their vehicles and equipment. Thefts are “ever more sophisticated with examples of criminal gangs using technology such as drones” to pinpoint expensive machinery or accessories, according to Jim McLaren, chairman of NFU Mutual, an insurance company specializing in rural areas. Some equipment, the police say, is stolen to order and moved abroad...Andy Lemon, a police inspector who works on rural crime at Wiltshire Police, says that in some instances, high-value equipment has left Britain within 48 hours and ended up in Eastern Europe."

Sources:
   "Farmer Who Reported Theft of 45,000 chicks Charged With Fraud, Mischief: OPP: A Huron County farmer who reported the theft of 45,000 chicks in April 2023 has been charged with fraud and public mischief, Huron OPP said,” Beatriz Baleeiro
London Free Press, May 07, 2025
 "More than two years after a reported theft of 45,000 chicks from a Huron County farm, OPP have laid charges – against the farmer who reported the theft.
Huron OPP said Wednesday a 41-year-old South Huron man is charged with fraud over $5,000 and public mischief in a case one farmer described as “mind-boggling” when it was reported in April 2023....Huron OPP received a report on April 20, 2023, that 30,000 15-day-old chicks were stolen overnight on April 19. The alleged theft caused a stir in farming circles and stumped police.
“It’s absolutely mind-boggling,” Ethan Wallace, a farmer and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture director for Huron and Perth counties, said in a Free Press story on May 16, 2023.
“Anybody that’s chased a bird or anything knows how they scatter. To undertake rounding up 30,000 of them is, yeah, absolutely mind-boggling.” In the same story, an OPP spokesperson said investigators were puzzled.“We’re really lacking physical evidence to support the report of the theft, but it still doesn’t explain where are the chicks and how are they in the barn one day and gone the next?” Const. Craig Soldan said. “It’s still a mystery.”