One arrested in boat theft, second suspect still sought

Authorities arrested a Phil Campbell woman Tuesday who is accused of stealing about $50,000 worth of equipment in Franklin and Colbert counties.

Rhonda Odom Hill, 43, 536 Hyde Road, was arrested on two counts of first-degree receiving stolen property after Russellville Police and Franklin County Sheriff’s deputies served the warrants on her at a traffic stop Tuesday night.

Hill is accused of assisting Jeffrey Landon Fitzgerald, 45, in stealing a 2005 Larson boat worth $25,000 from Freeman’s Marine on Alabama 24 in Russellville late Friday night, officials said.

Authorities also said that Hill and Fitzgerald are accused of stealing a 1999 Caterpillar backhoe from a business in Muscle Shoals that was reported missing in November.

While executing a search warrant at the residence, officers with the FCSD, the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, the RPD and the Phil Campbell Police Department discovered the stolen boat as well as the backhoe.

Authorities are still looking for Fitzgerald, a 45-year-old white male with the same address as Hill.

Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Fitzgerald should contact the sheriff’s department’s 24-hour number at 256-332-8820 or contact any other local law enforcement agency.