Facebook community recovers farmer's stolen ute in 48 hours
A stolen ute was found about 260 kilometres away in just 48 hours. A Facebook post drew 260,000 views.
Matt Ballentine's ute was stolen during harvest at Brocklesby, near the NSW-Victoria border. A local firewood business owner, Todd Gelletly, captured it on CCTV.
Todd posted it to Facebook that night asking for help. Within about five minutes the owner called back.
He confirmed it was his stolen vehicle. The post got 260,000 views.
Hundreds of people reported sightings. Police moved to Koondrook in Victoria within hours the next morning.
They arrested a 41-year-old man with the ute. It was less than 10 kilometres from where it was spotted.
A 41-year-old is due in court in January. The charges include theft and handling stolen goods.
- 260 kilometres
- Recovery distance
- 260,000
- Facebook post views
- 48 hours
- Time to recovery
- 2018 Toyota LandCruiser V8 GXL
- Vehicle model
Why it mattersThe recovery shows how rural communities can use social media to act faster than police alone. This protects farmers' livelihoods during peak work periods.
AustraliaNSW and Victorian farmers now have a proven local network model for rapid recovery of stolen equipment worth thousands of dollars.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 1 h ago
