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STANSBURY PARK — Two brothers diving for treasure in a Tooele County pond hoped to find something interesting, but they never expected to find a stolen gun.
Brothers Sam and Simon Crapo snorkel in ponds, lakes and rivers around Utah, hoping to find underwater treasure. They’ve found things like a working cellphone, clothing, golf balls, flashlights and more. Then they create videos and share their discoveries on their YouTube channel.
“Everyone has the desire to find treasure, right?” Simon said. “Deep down inside, we all want to find treasure.”
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On Saturday, they found more than just treasure: They made a discovery that helped solve a crime.
“I pull it out of the water and I’m like, 'There’s no way this is real!'" said Sam. “But it was.”
It was a Smith & Wesson handgun worth about $600, tossed into Millpond in Stansbury Park.
“Oh my gosh, it’s a real gun! Oh my gosh,” Sam could be heard saying on the GoPro video of the discovery.
“At first I thought it was like an airsoft gun or a pellet gun, but no,” said Sam. “Once I got a good look at it, you could definitely tell it was a real gun.”
The big question for investigators – why was it there?
“You never know the story behind what you find, and that gun could be connected to anything,” said Sam.
Lt. Travis Scharmann with the Tooele County Sheriff’s Office said the gun was stolen out of a car during a vehicle burglary spree.
“Back towards the end of August, we had a rash of between 30 to 50 vehicle burglaries throughout the Stansbury Park area,” said Scharmann.
I didn't ever expect to be a superhero going snorkeling. Never figured we’d help solve a crime.
–Sam Crapo, Tooele County snorkler
He said four juveniles were caught and admitted to tossing the gun into the pond to hide the evidence.
They couldn’t hide it forever from the two young snorkeling sleuths.
“It feels good to help other people out,” said Simon.
“I didn’t ever expect to be a superhero going snorkeling,” laughed Sam. “Never figured we’d help solve a crime.”
When Sam and Simon aren’t pulling treasure out of ponds and lakes, they’re pulling out trash. They said they’re just trying to clean up Utah’s waterways a little at a time.
