Mountain Man in Utah Out to Steal Cabins’ Coffee, Alcohol and Guns

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Joel Sartore/Getty

If you’re planning one last winter getaway before spring approaches and your destination is somewhere in southern Utah’s wilderness, you might want to take an extra dead bolt for your door. 

Chances are you could have a visit from a particular “mountain man” who will drink your booze and your coffee, eat your food and steal your provisions before heading out to the next house. Authorities have been chasing after this man with no success over the past five years, the Associated Press reports.

Said to be “armed and dangerous” by authorities, he’s covered more than 1,000 sq. m. of wilderness and is responsible for more than two dozen burglaries of luxury cabins near Zion National Park. He’s not just quietly stealing things, either, but, rather, leaving a mark — he left a note in one cabin, warning, “Get off my mountain.”

(LIST: Top 10 Bandits)

The malcontent mugger has also been leaving cabins in “disarray and riddled with bullets” and seems to enjoy defacing religious icons. “He’s antireligious, waiting for the mother ship to come in,” one cabin owner, Bruce Stucki, told the Associated Press. “He should know he’s being followed, but I don’t think this guy is normal in any way.”

What’s most frightening about all of this, of course, is the fact that these cabins are so isolated. “He could stand in the trees and pop you off and no one would know who killed you,” Stucki told the Associated Press.

Detectives say they have “a lot of leads” and may make an ID soon. The man has been spotted only twice, apparently, each time escaping back into the forest. Let’s hope he leaves a Hansel and Gretel–like trail of stolen food that leads authorities right to him.

MORE: ‘Barefoot Bandit’ Sentenced to 6 1/2 Years