Copper Theft Deaths

I’ll Remember You, Dad Earl

I’ll Remember You, “Dad Earl”

Movie Notes

Novice Director: Jody

Participants: Earl, Mom, Dennis, Jennifer, Jody’s sister Kim (husband Jon & three-year-old daughter Rose), sister Lori (husband Steve, son Luke and friend Jessica), sister Kysa and friend Jim, brother-in-law Lee, Cocoa the Small but mighty dog

Location: Onawa, IA

Date: February 7, 2007

Event: Kysa’s Birthday

Family Members (In order of appearance): Luke sitting on small kitchen table; Kysa in striped sweater; Mom & Earl in corner; Steve in doorway; Lori in overalls; Lee at dining room table with Rosie (in pink boots); Cocoa on floor in doorway; Dennis coming through doorway; Jim in yellow shirt; Jon in beard by sink; Jessica in front of Luke at table; Jennifer with long blonde hair in dining room…and closing with the way I most remember Earl…smiling, pushing up his glasses, laughing, loving and enjoying his family.

The Music

I’ll Remember You
by Grayson Hugh

In big families there is no lack of celebrations.

On February 7, 2007, I had my first opportunity to “film” one of these events with my new Digimax camera (with built-in Movie Clip mode) I’d received for Christmas from my son Bill and his wife Jen. I had no idea what a priceless gift this fruit would bear: video footage of my stepfather — “Dad Earl” Thelander — taken six months before he died from third-degree burns sustained when cowardly copper thieves exchanged around $15 worth of copper wiring for a good man’s life.

This video, however, is intended to celebrate the countless happy times my family and I shared with him…the way I most remember Dad Earl.

The event is my sister Kysa’s birthday, held in my 100-year-old home despite kitchen and dining room renovations. That’s the great thing about a large, loving family, as you’ll see; they’ll gather to celebrate a birthday or special occasion, and, in the midst of all the have-more-cake-and-ice-creams and kids and dogs and laughter and love, they’ll somehow overlook the make-shift kitchen counters and yet-to-be refinished hardwood floors poking out beneath a host of mismatched area rugs.

They know what’s important.

Despite my amateurish (and first ever) attempt at film recording, I managed to put together a short video encompassing the event, and then, later, extracted sections from it for the five-minute clip shown above.

There are no “official” rolling credits, though I hope Grayson Hugh will understand my using here his lyrical and poignant “I’ll Remember You” composition. There simply was no runner-up.

Sort of like Earl.

Articles on Earl Thelander death

Onawa Explosion Victim Dies

September 3, 2007

An Onawa man injured last week in a natural gas explosion in the basement of a vacant home has died. Earl Thelander died Saturday at Clarkson Hospital in Omaha.

Officials say they think the home exploded when Thelander plugged in a fan to help vent fumes from a broken propane line leading to the furnace.

Officials say the line had been cut when burglars were stealing copper lines from the home and cut the gas lines before leaving.

Visitation and a funeral will be held later this week.

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Explosion victim dies of injuries – Daily Nonpareil

Explosion victim dies of injuries

9/04/2007

ONAWA – A man injured in a propane explosion at a vacant house he owned died Saturday at Clarkson Hospital in Omaha.

Earl Thelander, 80, was hospitalized Aug. 27 after suffering second- and third-degree burns.

He plugged in a fan to air out the house’s basement and it caused the gas fumes to explode, according to the Monona County Sheriff’s Office. *

The office said copper wire thieves had burglarized the house earlier and cut into a gas line, causing the leak.

A sheriff’s office spokesperson said there had been no arrests in the case as of this morning.

According to Monona County Assistant County Attorney Steve Allen, his office is investigating what charges to file if an arrest is made.

He said they had ruled out first-degree murder unless intent to cause Thelander’s death could be proven.

Thelander’s funeral will be held Thursday at First Christian Church in Onawa. Visitation and a memorial prayer service are set for Wednesday evening at Rush Family Care Service in Onawa.

– Tom McMahon

* Correction: Earl had gone back to the home several hours after the gas leak had first been discovered. The sheriff’s department had gone, and, smelling no remaining fumes, Earl plugged in a fan to help dry water on the floor’s basement so he could install a new water pump. (He did not plug it in to air out any remaining fumes, because he didn’t smell anything.)

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Natural gas explosion leads to man’s death

IOWA STATE DAILY

Natural gas explosion leads to man’s death

The Associated Press
Issue date: 9/4/07

ONAWA — A man injured in a natural gas explosion in the basement of a vacant house he owned has died.

Earl Thelander, 80, died Saturday at Clarkson Hospital in Omaha, Neb.

Thelander was hospitalized Tuesday with burn injuries after an explosion damaged the house in rural Onawa.

The Monona County Sheriff’s office said Thelander had plugged in a fan to help vent fumes from a propane line leading to the furnace that had been cut.

Authorities said they believed burglars were stealing copper lines from the house and had taken the water lines and apparently had cut the gas lines before fleeing.

After the explosion, Thelander drove about two miles to his home. He was being treated at the Omaha hospital for second-degree burns over 40 percent of his body.

Visitation and a prayer service were set for Wednesday evening at Rush Family Care Service in Onawa. A funeral service is scheduled for this Thursday.

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Reward Offered in Copper Theft That Led to Deadly Explosion

January 8, 2008

Earl and Hope Thelander — Reward Offered in Copper Theft that Led to Deadly Explosion

January 8, 2008 — The family of an 80-year-old Monona County man who died in an house explosion, is offering an award for information leading to the arrest of the person who started the gas leak.

Authorities say when urban miners stripped Earl Thelander’s home of copper piping, they started a gas leak. Thelander died when his house exploded from that leak. The Thelander family is now offering a $5,000 reward.

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Inside Edition

INSIDE EDITION

COPPER THEFT

Airdate: 5/14/2008

Doug Thelander and his family are victims of one of the fastest growing crimes in the country…copper theft. Thieves stole several feet of copper pipes from a house owned by his dad, but in the process they cut the gas line, leaving dangerous propane gas leaking into the basement.

When his father Earl returned to his house outside Sioux City, Iowa, he plugged in a fan. The next instant, the gas ignited into a fireball.

“There’d just been a flash. Just…it engulfed him,” Thelander tells INSIDE EDITION.

Earl Thelander survived an agonizing four days.

In tears, his daughter Cindy says, “After four days, we decided we didn’t want him to suffer.”

It’s a nationwide copper crime wave. From plumbing pipes to the wires that carry electricity and phone service to your house, if it’s made of copper and thieves can get to it, they will.

One perpetrator was caught on surveillance camera stealing the copper cables inside a cellular phone tower in Texas. Another brazen thief used a fork lift to steal tons of copper wire from an electrical contractor. While still another used wire cutters to steal hundreds of feet of copper in Florida.

Copper theft has become so rampant in Detroit that whole neighborhoods are sometimes left without power, and a heavily armed task force goes after suspected copper crooks.

As for the Thelander family, they’re still trying to understand why their dad died, because someone wanted to steal the copper from his house.

The Thelanders are now offering a $5,000 reward to try to catch the crook responsible for their father’s death. Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact Monona County Sheriff’s Office at 1-800-859-1414. All caller information and reward claims may be made anonymously.

In the past year at least 20 states have enacted tougher new laws to try to make it more difficult for thieves and scrap yards to profit from stolen copper.

To learn about copper theft legislation in your area, visit the National Conference of State Legislatures.

To learn more about copper theft, visit RSI Video Technologies at www.coppertheft.info.

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