Ouray County law enforcement officers are investigating the theft of more than 200 Ouray County Plaindealer newspapers from vending racks in Ridgway and Ouray — papers that were returned less than 12 hours later to the Plaindealer office.

This week’s edition was headlined by an article detailing a 17-year-old girl’s claim that she was raped multiple times by two different people at the home of Ouray Police Chief Jeff Wood during a late-party in May with the chief’s stepson and two others.

The newspapers were stolen sometime Thursday morning, according to witnesses and surveillance video. Law enforcement officers are reviewing that video and have followed up on several leads.

Hours after the Plaindealer reported the theft to law enforcement,  an individual returned a garbage bag full of newspapers to the Plaindealer office.

An individual has said they will turn themselves into the law enforcement today (Friday) and take responsibility for the theft. Investigators have asked the newspaper not to provide more details until their work is finished.

At this point the Plaindealer has no reason to believe that any of the three defendants in the alleged rape case, their families or the Ouray Police Department are involved in the theft.

The Plaindealer, which has received more than $2,000 in donations since announcing the theft, replaced the stolen newspapers in racks around Ridgway and Ouray on Friday morning.

This story will be updated in next week’s edition of the Plaindealer.