SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A Yellowknife contractor has located his stolen construction trailer west of the city after chartering a helicopter to look for it.

Jim Shannahan, owner of Nu Image Construction, stands in the lot near the airport where his construction trailer sat until it was stolen April 26. Shannahan chartered a helicopter Wednesday and spotted the trailer from the air in a gravel pit off Highway 3 - John McFadden/NNSL photo

Jim Shannahan saw the 20-foot-long trailer from the air on Wednesday morning after being on the lookout for 15 minutes.

"It was in a gravel pit near kilometre 311 off Highway 3 about a third of the way to Behchoko, this side of Boundary Creek. It wasn't hidden or covered at all. You could see it from the highway," said Shannahan.

"The tires were slashed, the padlocks were smashed off and many of the tools that were inside are missing. Everything that was in the trailer, mainly tools, was turned upside down."

The tool-filled work trailer, along with a dump trailer, was stolen sometime on April 26 from a construction site near the Yellowknife airport, Shannahan said.

He had estimated the loss at about $130,000 before he found the stolen trailer. Now that he has done an inventory of the remaining tools, Shannahan figures he's out about $30,000 worth a tools and a $15,000 dump trailer.

"I'm in better shape than I was at the beginning of the week," he said.

"But don't forget I had to pay $1,175 to charter the helicopter for an hour, $500 to get the trailer towed back to Yellowknife and almost $1,000 for four new tires for the trailer, plus my time and my worker's time."

The stolen tools include specialized Hilti construction drills, other impact drills, batteries, battery chargers as well as siding and roofing nailer air guns - all the tools one could carry away, said Shannahan.

Even though he has recovered some of his stolen property, Shannahan remains extremely frustrated that people would have the nerve to steal his livelihood.

He figures it had to be more than one person, who came in with two trucks to steal the trailers.

"I'm stomach sick. That's my whole life," he said.

"There are two things in life you should never do - one is you never fool around with a married man's wife, and you never, ever steal a man's tools."

Shannahan has owned and operated Nu Image Construction for the past 14 years. The native of Newfoundland is a married father and has been in Yellowknife on and off for the past 27 years.

The trailers had been parked at a small building that is under construction, alongside Highway 3.

"I was doing a job ... But right now I hardly even have a hammer. I can't really begin to try to make back the money that I've lost because I need my tools to do that," said Shannahan.

He added he isn't sure if insurance would cover his loss.

Shannahan said he is offering a $2,000 reward for any information that leads to an arrest or information helping him get back his dump trailer and the rest of his tools.

RCMP confirmed that officers are investigating the theft, however they have not released any details of their investigation.