LEETONIA Police say all stolen stones are recovered

News reports made the stones too hot to handle.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LEETONIA -- With the assistance of one of three people charged with removing large landscaping stones from a Butcher Road property, police think all the stones have been found.
Salem Township Constable Dan Valentine said a local greenhouse owner discovered Tuesday he had bought some of the stones after reading news reports about their removal.
Valentine said the greenhouse owner is not liable because he didn't know the stones were stolen.
Valentine said news reports made the other stones too hot to handle. One of the people charged said they dumped the stones over embankments on two township roads, and showed Valentine where they were.
The owners and the people charged gave conflicting reports about how many stones were missing. The owners thought about 12 stones were missing, while the people charged said they had 15 or 16.
He said 15 stones were recovered in all, with seven found Wednesday.
Large items
The stones vary in size between 18 and 30 inches long and 8 inches tall. They weigh between 70 and 120 pounds each.
Valentine filed charges of receiving stolen property this week against Jason W. Heffner, 24, of Lisbon-Canfield Road, Salem Township. Jonathon J. Stewart, 20, of Columbia Street, Leetonia, and Krystal A. Senior, 19, of Cherry Fork Avenue, Leetonia, are both charged with theft.
During the investigation, Valentine also found that Heffner's wife, Nichole L. Wagnoner-Heffner, 20, of Lisbon-Canfield Road, was wanted by the Columbiana County Sheriff's Department on charges of passing bad checks.
Valentine said the homeowners discovered the stones were missing June 30. The stones were from the foundation of an old barn owned by the homeowners' grandfather and father, both now deceased.
Valentine said the group took the stones from a landscaped wall in the front yard, and loaded the stones into the back of a pickup truck, which Senior drove.
tullis@vindy.com