On October 9, 2024, Investigator Matt Bothma of the Itasca County Sheriff's Office was notified of a theft of spruce tops from UPM Blandin property. The theft involved two sites in Itasca County, one being at the intersection of County Road 539 and County Road 545, the other being at the intersection of County Road 57 and County Road 336. The email from Blandin staff referencing the spruce top theft further indicated that Blandin staff had identified the location where the thieves had been accessing the spruce top site off of County Road 336. The email indicated that the thieves had been accessing the spruce top cut site by driving around the gate and over a berm.
The email further indicated that Blandin had since built up the berm to prevent access. The email also indicated that there was garbage disposed of along the trail leading in to the cut site. On October 11, 2024, Investigator Bothma proceeded to the Blandin property off of County Road 336 and walked into the property on foot. Following the trail from the gated access point, at a Y in the trail, Investigator Bothma located three bags of garbage and a spare tire. Following the trail further toward the "cut site," said deputy located a plate and some women's clothing on the ground.
The women's clothing was seized as evidence. Investigator Bothma then went through the garbage in the bags and located an empty coffee cup with a burnt cigarette inside, which items were seized as evidence. Investigator Bothma then photographed the area, including significant rutting to the trail leading to the cut site. Investigator Bothma later submitted the coffee cup, cigarette, and some of the women's clothing items to the BCA for DNA analysis. Blandin foresters provided Investigator Bothma with the following estimate for the value of the theft from the cut site off of County Road 336. It was estimated that the cut site was approximately 6.5 acres in size, wtih approximately 800 spruce tops cut off of each acre, for a total of 5,200 spruce tops.
With each spruce top being valued at $3 the theft of the 5,200 spruce tops was estimated to have an approximate value of $15,600. Despite further investigation, law enforcement was unable to develop substantial evidence in connection with the cut site at the intersection of County Road 545 and County Road 539. On February 3, 2025, Investigator Bothma received BCA lab results from a swabbing from the inside of the coffee cup collected from the County Road 336 cut site. The sample matched offender Brian John Rauch from the DNA database. 2 31-CR-26-260 Filed in District Court State of Minnesota 2/2/2026 On February 12, 2025, Investigator Bothma drafted a search warrant for a DNA sample from Rauch, which was signed by the Honorable Sarah McBroom.
Investigator Bothma then obtained a Mirandized statement from Rauch in the Itasca County Jail. During the statement, Rauch admitted to "picking" spruce tops on Blandin land near the scenic highway in Itasca County the previous summer/fall. Investigator Bothma then advised Rauch that he knew he had been picking in the area off of County Road 57 and 336, because he had recovered Rauch's DNA from that location. Rauch then admitted that he had been staying on said Blandin property because he was "on the run" from the Itasca County Jail.
