We were contacted by a plant hire company after a Takeuchi TB216 was stolen. The tracking data placed a cell site (No GPS) just a few miles west of Stoke-on-Trent, around 5 miles from the theft location.
Upon arrival, our investigator began a detailed search, sweeping rural farmland using RF tracking equipment. After over an hour of searching, we picked up a stronger signal near a large open field — pointing towards a dense woodland. They proceeded to trek through the woodland, until eventually the digger was found deep in shrubbery, alongside a screwdriver on the seat, obviously concealed by the thieves to ‘cool off’ and block GPS.
After being told we wouldn’t receive support by West Mercia police, we called the hire companies recovery driver to come and safely remove the vehicle from the woods and take it back to the site, who was very responsive and helpful; however, we ended up being transferred to a separate police force (Cheshire) who wanted to deploy agents – they arrived promptly, and took the screwdriver found on the diggers seat for forensics. The digger was returned safely with no damage to the hire company.
We have posted this entire recovery video on YouTube, with additional footage of a BMW S1000RR recovery.