Unusual theft: 8 school buses in St. Louis area

ST. LOUIS - Vehicle thefts are common in the St. Louis area, but authorities are shocked by the latest trend - eight mysteriously missing school buses.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/z0z1ly) reports that at least one full-size regulation yellow bus has disappeared each month since September, plus one in May, from locations in St. Louis County and Jefferson County. All told, eight buses are missing. None have been found.

Each bus is worth about $60,000 based on the price of a new one.

Pinpointing exactly when they were taken is difficult because in each case, the buses were stolen on weekends or when school was not in session.

Victims are two parochial schools, a public school and two locations belonging to a company that contracts for transportation.