Home Before Deployment, Soldier Is Victim Of Theft In Neligh

Javis Olson was hoping for a little family time and R&R before being deployed oversees for the third time. Instead, he became the alleged victim of a theft early Friday morning. 

Olson, a 2006 Neligh-Oakdale graduate and E5/SGT in the U.S. Army, has spent the last week in Neligh catching up with family and friends before leaving for Germany at the end of August. Besides being a soldier, Olson is also a sponsored bass fisherman and plans to make that his career once retiring from the Army. 

On Friday, he intended to do a little bass fishing with a buddy at Grove Lake. With his gear in the back of his truck, they stopped at a Neligh convenience store for breakfast at about 5 a.m. When they arrived in Royal, his Denali fishing rod was gone. 

"Some people might laugh because it's a fishing rod, but I plan to make a career out of this," Olson said. "This irritates me. I've fished all over the country and never had anything taken from me, but here visiting my hometown, someone snatches a rod out of my truck while getting breakfast."

This isn't any ordinary fishing rod, either. Olson said it will stand out as being a professional casting rod worth hundreds of dollars.

Olson said he's missing a 6 1/2 foot red Denali rod with black tips and an Abu Garcia reel. It was inside a red rod cover in the back of his pickup. The rod also has a Baitmate Fish Attractant logo on it. 

The rod traveled from North Carolina to Nebraska in the back of Olson's truck without any issues. Olson said his friend was driving behind him to Royal in another vehicle and nothing flew out of his truck, and they have searched the roads between Neligh and Royal to no avail.

So far, the rod is nowhere to be found, and Olson is certain it was stolen from his truck while at the convenience store. 

Olson has been in dangerous situations all over the world. He said Antelope County shouldn't be where something is stolen from him. 

"We just wanted to enjoy our time and come home, and this happens," he said. "This is a safe place, but then someone goes and does this. It's really irritating."

If you have any information regarding the alleged theft, please contact Antelope County authorities.