Authorities believe it’s unlikely missing guns are hidden in Pike County

PETERSBURG, Ind. (WEHT) — Authorities say three people have confessed to a gun theft crime spree. Police believe one is lying.

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

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

“We have yet to unravel a motive as to why he would have made this confession with details and specifics about where these tarps are because he had known locations,” McDonald says. “They end up just being a big fantastic story. So, we do not know, and it’s baffling.”

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

Weyerbacher’s theft charges have been dropped, and he is charged with false informing.

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

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

“A search warrant was done in Mr. Frere residence and a magazine matching one of the pistols was located at the residence. An interview was done of him and he admitted as well. Again, no connection to Mr. Weyerbacher.”

After the sheriff’s office searched Sugar Ridge Road for a couple weeks — going as far as magnet fishing in creeks for the guns — McDonald believes it’s unlikely any missing guns are there.

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

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