TAHLEQUAH — Cherokee County law enforcement officials late last week worked with agencies from Arkansas and Missouri to disrupt a months-long burglary ring spanning at least three states.

Three local arrests had been made as of Friday, and investigators say more are possible.

Authorities say Richard Basnett, 60, of Tahlequah, is out on $100,000 bond after his arrest for conspiracy to commit arson, solicitation to commit arson, and theft by receiving. He was extradited from Tahlequah to Carroll County, Ark.

Basnett’s wife, Jo Ashing, 59, of Tahlequah, was booked into the Cherokee County Detention Center Thursday for knowingly concealing stolen property. Erica Marie Bilby, 19, of Tahlequah, was being held at CCDC for possession of a stolen firearm. Ashing and Bilby were both arrested in Tahlequah and held on $75,000 bonds.

A fourth person connected to the case, Jason Sears, of Omaha, Ark., is being held in Taney County, Mo., for burglary, theft, and arson.

Eureka Springs, Ark., Police Chief Earl Hyatt said the case evolved from a burglary at the Pine Top Motel in Eureka Springs last November. The suspect was captured on surveillance video, and authorities released the photo to the public hoping someone would recognize him, Hyatt said.

The Pine Top Motel caught fire Dec. 8, causing about $1.2 million in damage, Hyatt said.

“We go in and start investigating, and obviously it was arson,” said Hyatt.

As investigators worked the arson case, someone provided Sears’ name as a suspect in the burglary of the motel. Officials began to believe the burglary and arson were related, and eventually learned Sears was in the Branson, Mo., area. Sears allegedly fled from Branson police in a stolen vehicle, but officers from Taney and Stone counties in Missouri were able to capture him.

Sears later allegedly admitted to investigators he was responsible for torching the Pine Top Motel. Sears also implicated Basnett, saying Basnett offered to pay him $10,000 to burn the building. Basnett is listed as part owner, along with Ashing, of the 1876 Inn, located next to the Pine Top Motel.

According to the Lovely County Citizen, Basnett was arrested by Eureka Springs Police Department in 2007 in connection with the attempted arson of another motel, but that case was dropped after a city attorney failed to turn over information requested by the defense.

As the motel investigation continued, information surfaced on a related burglary ring, Hyatt said.

“These guys were stealing tailgates, trailers, tires... ,” said Hyatt. “You name it, if they were able to get their hands on it, they were taking it.”

Officers received consent to search Basnett’s motel and located three stolen trailers. Other stolen items, some from the Pine Top Motel, were found in a room at Basnett’s facility, Hyatt said. That discovery eventually led to recovery of stolen items on property in Carroll County, Ark., and then led back to Basnett’s residence in Tahlequah.

Arkansas and Missouri agencies began working with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office and Tahlequah Police Department last week to obtain a search warrant for a Tahlequah home, located near the corner of Cedar and Allen. On Thursday, the local agencies gathered with officers from the neighboring states to serve a search warrant for several items they believed to be in the house. During the investigation, officers from Eureka Springs spotted other items that had been stolen in their region, including large, metal animal statues sitting outside the home, according to investigators.

Officers were subsequently led to stolen items inside two storage buildings in Tahlequah and at two other homes in the county. The items recovered among all five locations have an estimated total value of at least $200,000, CCSO investigators said. Considering the property stolen in Arkansas and Missouri, officials working those cases believe the value of stolen items could total more than $1 million.

During the searches in Cherokee County, eight different trailers were found, including two box-trailer car haulers and a third flatbed car hauler. A Corvette was found inside one of the car haulers, though authorities haven’t determined if the car is stolen.

Officers also recovered a unique .270 Winchester rifle; three different lawn mowers, including two worth a total of $23,000; one all-terrain vehicle, worth about $10,000; a skid-steer loader worth thousands; and 10 tailgates of various models and colors, each with an electronic video system that comes standard on some newer-model vehicles. The tailgates are each worth thousands of dollars, and were being packaged in boxes and sold on eBay, investigators said.

A large, lodge-style, hand-crafted metal gate, worth around $20,000, was recovered, as were numerous tools and other items.

Investigators said the items were stolen from dealerships and individuals in Arkansas and Missouri, and none are believed to have been taken in Cherokee County. Officers do believe participants in the burglary ring may have been sending items stolen in and around Tahlequah back to Arkansas or Missouri to be sold.

“This has definitely been going on for months, without a doubt,” said Hyatt.

It may date back more than several months – the rifle recovered in Tahlequah, he said, was reported stolen more than three years ago.

Tahlequah Police Chief Clay Mahaney pledged to continue offering assistance and to follow up on information that may lead to the recovery of any items taken from the city.

“We’re very proud to have assisted these other agencies in the disruption of an organized crime ring,” said Mahaney.

Cherokee County Sheriff Norman Fisher said the bust may be one of the biggest ever made in the county, especially considering the estimated value of recovered property.

“This was a cooperation of all these departments from Cherokee County, Arkansas, and Missouri, and I’m proud of my guys for the work they have done,” said Fisher.

Many of the property owners have been contacted about the recovery of their property, investigators said, but the items found in Cherokee County were still being logged as evidence Friday.