Cabin burglary suspect identified

SALT LAKE CITY – Authorities on Tuesday identified a man sought for more than five years in dozens of cabin burglaries in the mountains of southern Utah.

In a statement Tuesday evening, the Iron County Sheriff’s Office said tips from the public and forensic evidence have linked Troy James Knapp to the crimes.

Authorities said an arrest warrant has been issued for his capture. The 44-year-old faces multiple counts of burglary and a weapons charge.

The identification of the serial cabin burglar, who has been considered armed and dangerous, was the result of “good old fashioned investigative work along with tips provided by the public,” according to the statement.

It said the suspect had been “forensically linked” to the burglaries but provided no further details.

But in court documents filed Jan. 27 in Kane County in southern Utah, authorities indicated they matched Knapp’s fingerprints lifted from one cabin to records from a 2000 theft arrest in California.

Last week, Iron County Sheriff’s Detective Jody Edwards said investigators hadn’t made a definite identification but were getting close.

Edwards has been working on the case since 2007.

“We believe Mr. Knapp is our guy,” Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Michael Wingert told the Associated Press. “This guy is probably about as true a survivalist as Davy Crockett.”

The burglar has eluded capture for more than five years and is responsible for more than two dozen break-ins across a swath of mountains not far from Zion National Park. He’s roamed 1,000 square miles of rugged wilderness where snow can pile 10 feet deep in winter.

Authorities have said Knapp has been breaking into remote cabins in winter, living in luxury off hot food, alcohol and coffee before stealing provisions and vanishing into the woods with guns and supplies.

“This suspect is known to be armed and could be possibly dangerous if cornered,” the statement released Tuesday said.