$16K Of Football Equipment Taken From Small College

Maryville College has reported thousands of dollars worth of football gear missing from the campus athletic center. The school discovered the loss late last week and now police are investigating the disappearance.

Maryville Athletic Director Kandis Schram says the gear was discovered missing Thursday evening from a storage room in the Cooper Athletic Center, after a routine inventory check showed several items short.

“We are missing some jerseys, and some coaching headsets, as well as a mini cannon and some swords and a video camera,” she said.

The “weapons” are in reference to the school mascot, the Maryville Scots.

In total, the items account for about $16,000 worth of missing gear.

“Anytime you lose things of this magnitude, it’s a loss,” said Schram. “It’s a disappointing loss, but one that we’ll deal with.”

The Maryville Police Department is now handling the case, which is still in the early stages, according to Chief Tony Crisp. He says there are no definite suspects yet, and no charges have been filed.

“We’ve followed up on a couple of leads that we have, and still working on that.”

Crisp said the case is challenging. There is a high volume of traffic in the building where the items went missing, and police found no sign of forced entry.

“It’s hard to obtain a lot of forensic evidence as far as fingerprints… because it’s an area that’s frequented so much by so many people.”

When asked about the types of items taken from the college, Crisp said it is an “odd” assortment not likely to be resold somewhere else, like a pawnshop.

“It’s items … [without] a real marketplace out in the world to trade.”

Anyone with information about the case can call the Maryville Police Department CRIMELINE number at (865) 380-1388.