Sheriff’s deputies arrested three men on Tuesday night, and despite the date, it was not an April fool’s joke. Quite the opposite, as Boone County Sheriff Rodney Miller said investigators looking for stolen property found something much more serious, namely a methamphetamine lab.

Miller said that late Tuesday evening, deputies from his department arrested Richard Phillip Elswick, Jr., 40, of Wharton, Jason Albert Adkins, 31, of Madison and Jack Anthony Webb, 33, of Charleston. Miller said Webb was formerly a Wharton resident

A criminal complaint filed in Boone County Magistrate Court said Elswick was charged with one count each of grand larceny, conspiracy to commit a felony and transfer of stolen property. Adkins faces a single count of attempting to operate a clandestine meth lab, while Webb is charged with attempting to operate a clandestine meth lab, grand larceny, conspiracy to commit a felony and transfer of stolen property.

The arrests seem to have resulted from a theft investigation deputies were working on involving a $50,000 skid steer reported missing on March 16, from a mine site operated by Chisler, Inc., near Cazy. The company is currently at work at the site reclaiming the closed Dakota Mine.

Investigators were led to a residence located on Price Branch Road, near Danville, where the equipment was located and recovered. While at the residence, Webb and Adkins arrived in Elswick’s truck, where deputies discovered a meth lab and components in the back.

Miller said additional drugs were discovered in the house and further charges are expected to be filed in the near future.

All three men were taken to the Southwestern Regional Jail awaiting arraignment before a Boone County Magistrate, and as of Wednesday, April 1, they had yet to post bond in the case.

Cpl. J.A. Weagel, E.E. Arthur and R.B. Dotson are heading the investigation.