Facebook sleuths help border farmer find stolen ute

It was broad daylight when New South Wales farmer Matt Ballentine's ute was stolen from his paddock in the middle of harvest at Brocklesby near the Victorian border last week.

Almost immediately, keen-eyed country social media users sprang into action and, through a series of photos, shares and clicks, Mr Ballentine's ute was found just 48 hours later at Koondrook in Victoria's north-west about 260 kilometres away.

His wife, Shayne Ballentine, said it was incredible to see the Facebook community band together to track the stolen vehicle in real time.

"We had pretty much resigned ourselves to the fact that it's gone and all the equipment is gone and we're never going to see that ute again," Ms Ballentine said.

"The fact that we got it two days later, I think, is purely because of the social media. It's just nice to know that there's still good people out there."

The ute was a 2018 Toyota LandCruiser V8 GXL 79 series dual cab that Ms Ballentine said was almost irreplaceable.

"It's one of those V8 LandCruisers, I don't ever think they make them anymore," she said.

"[Matt] was devastated by the idea of having to replace it."

The ute had a full tray of gear when it was stolen, including an air compressor, fuel pods, tools and an attached comb trailer. 

"[Matt] was absolutely furious. He was up in the paddock on the windrower when it was taken," Ms Ballentine said.

Internet sleuths solve mystery

Todd Gelletly published one of the Facebook posts instrumental in tracking the ute. 

His business, Gelletly Red Gum Firewood, operates out of a property at Barham where the stolen vehicle was spotted driving erratically by a keen-eyed worker the morning after it was taken.

Mr Gelletly posted a photo of the ute captured on his CCTV to Facebook that night in an effort to get to the bottom of the suspicious activity.

He said he was overwhelmed by the response.

"Within about five minutes of the post going up, the owners were on the phone saying, 'That's our ute. It was stolen yesterday,'" he said. 

The post drew attention and quickly climbed to 260,000 views, gaining hundreds of comments detailing further sightings.

"Then the next morning the phone just went crazy," Mr Gelletly said.

"Within an hour we had a really heavy police presence in a small little town like Koondrook, and that obviously led to the detection and the arrest of the offender and the recovery of the ute."

The alleged thief was apprehended in Koondrook, with the stolen ute, less than 10km from Mr Gelletly's property.

A 41-year-old man has been charged with theft of a car, handling stolen goods, bringing stolen goods into Victoria and possessing a controlled weapon. 

He has been granted bail and is due to appear in Kerang Magistrates Court in January.

Mr Gelletly said the whole ordeal was an important lesson in the power of social media.

"It's a powerful tool," he said.

"You can make as many phone calls as you like, but you're never going to reach that many people. 

"Regional people are great people, and they don't like seeing these things happen, and that's where the response comes in, isn't it?"

The ute has yet to be reunited with its owner and is being held in Kerang awaiting an insurance company assessment and repairs.

However, the Ballentines received further good news over the weekend when their air compressor and ute sides were found concealed in the bushes beside the Murray River.

"At the end of the day, we feel super lucky," Ms Ballentine said.