A small radio station in Jasper, Alabama, reported that their tower was stolen on February 2nd. It appears that thieves disassembled the 200-foot metal radio tower of the station, WJLX. A maintenance crew had arrived to survey the tower, only to discover that the entire tower and equipment in a small building nearby were all gone.
The thieves seemingly dismantled the tower, cut down steel beams, and carried off each piece. This unexpected and mystifying theft has forced the station to halt its operations as it grapples with the financial burden of replacing the tower. Unfortunately, there was reportedly no insurance on the location or equipment, so the station currently faces hefty costs estimated at around $150,000 to replace the tower. Brett Elmore, the station manager and son of the family who has owned the station for decades, expressed his frustration and disbelief of the theft to Spectrum News, stating, “To break into my building and steal all my equipment, and the tower?” Elmore continued, “Hell, leave me the tower — that’s the most expensive thing to replace.” Elmore views the radio station as his livelihood and a personal legacy as he follows in the footprints of his father, who managed the station until his passing in 2022. The station has been on air since the 1950s and Elmore remains committed to keeping the station running, declaring, “We’re going to make it. I have to keep the faith that we’re going to make it.” Despite the decrease in radio usage nationwide due to the internet and streaming, the local community is suffering from the loss of WJLX. In rural southern towns like Jasper, the radio often provides a crucial source of information and community.
While the station, Elmore, and the small town of Jasper grapple with the loss of their radio service for the time being, internet sleuths on conversive platforms like Reddit have been speculating about the true nature of this incident. Some point out the timeline of this event, referencing that they had not heard about WJLX for at least a year and wondered if the station did not make a report about it to the FCC in order to keep their FM license. Others speculate that the theft was orchestrated by the station itself in order to avoid fines and gain money, citing the radio station’s GoFundMe to pay for the tower replacements. Some point out that it seems unrealistic that a 200-ft radio tower did not have insurance in the first place. Finally, questions arose about the feasibility of stealing a 200-ft radio tower without anyone noticing, leaving some to believe that there must have been inside support.
While these comments are just theories and there is no concrete evidence of meddling from the station itself, the public is left still questioning the strange and unexplainable vanish of such a large structure that seemingly had so much importance to the town of Jasper. The situation seems grim for Elmore and WJLX, with not much support from the internet and a 200-ft radio tower to replace.
