Three Bend residents were arrested Thursday afternoon in connection with the theft of a life-sized bronze statue of Sacagawea stolen from the Fort Clatsop National Memorial Park near Astoria after they allegedly attempted to sell it for scrap at metal dealers in the Bend and Portland areas, police announced.

(left to right) James P. Storns, John A. Kristiansen,  and Shawna D. Roberson - DCJ photos. (below) The life-sized statue of Sacagawea and her infant son.

The statue was about 5 ½ feet tall, and depicted Sacagawea and her infant son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau. It disappeared from Nateul Landing sometime during the weekend of January 19-20, Bend Police Detective Scott Vincent said.  Fort Clatsop was the 1805-6 winter camp of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Bend Police were contacted January 22 by a local scrap metal dealer regarding “suspicious” metal, and responding officers were able to determine the connection to the missing statue. At that time, Bend Police and the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office began a joint investigation.

The following day, they learned that someone tried to sell the statue at a scrap metal yard in the Portland area, and received credible leads that resulted in the identification of four suspects.

Shortly before 2:30 p.m. on January 24, Bend Police officers and detectives performed a traffic stop on two of the suspects and took them into custody without incident. They were identified as James P. Storns, 44, and John A. Kristiansen, 45.

The third suspect, Shawna D. Roberson, 41, was arrested a short time later, Vincent said.

All three suspects were lodged in the Deschutes County Jail and charged with first-degree aggravated theft by receiving. In addition, Kristiansen was charged with possession of a controlled substance.

Detective Vincent asks anyone with additional information regarding the ongoing investigation to contact the Bend Police Department.

• It was stupid of them to go and do something like this. Especially when you know the people personally. James is my uncle. he would have never go this low. But once he met Shawna, everything changed. Shawna is nothing but a meth head. I do not like the thought of my own family doing something like this. Shawna isn't related to me at all, but she has been living with my family for the past 10 to 12 years rent free. Thanks for reading.
(Posted on August 4, 2008, 5:39 pm Ashlei)