Hunter Lefever of Connoquenessing Township, left, and his hunting buddy, Daniel Toomey of Summit Township, had their equipment stolen out of Lefever's pickup truck while on a hunting trip to Wyoming with another friend, Jake Meals. Police, who are investigating the theft, came together and loaned the men equipment so they could salvage their hunting trip.

Two Butler County guys and a friend from Venango County traveled more than 1,500 miles to Wyoming for a hunting trip only to have thousands of dollars worth of their gear stolen. But through the kindness of strangers, the trip was salvaged.

Hunter Lefever, 22, of Connoquenessing Township; Daniel Toomey, 23, of Summit Township; and Jake Meals, 21, of Oil City did what most people do when faced with a theft — they called the police.

But the situation took an unexpected turn once the authorities got involved.

The next day, the group discovered that someone had broken into the vehicle and had stolen about $6,000 worth of hunting gear that they planned on using to bow-hunt elk in the Big Horn Mountains.

The group reported the theft to the Casper Police Department, which is still investigating. Nobody has been arrested for the crime.

“Burglaries are a common occurrence here, unfortunately,” said Rebekah Ladd, public information officer for the Casper Police Department. “But what's interesting here is that an email went out from the officer (who) took the call to the entire department and essentially asked everyone to lend hunting gear to these guys.”

Read more about the trio's experience in Sunday's Butler Eagle.