Four days after buying their first home, a St. Louis County couple returned to find a decades-old bur oak gone from the front yard — and soon learned their missing tree may have been collateral damage in a scam aimed at contractors. The strange trail involved fake homeowner messages, a promised overpayment and an unknown tree-removal crew.
Alex Doehring and Larissa Coughlin were alerted by a neighbor before they even reached the house, according to First Alert 4. The neighbor texted that the tree and the couple’s storage pod were gone, leaving the new homeowners trying to figure out who had ordered the work.
After contacting nearly 20 tree companies, the couple found several contractors recognized the address and the same unusual request: remove “the tree on the left” because it supposedly did not suit the buyer’s taste. Zach Yager of LumberZach STL told the station he declined after noticing the person insisted on texting instead of taking phone calls, another detail that made the request look suspicious.
The Tree Job Was Apparently Bait
The suspected scheme follows a familiar fake-check pattern. The Federal Trade Commission warns that scammers may “overpay” a small business and then ask the owner to send back the difference, while the original check later turns out to be fraudulent.
In this case, the alleged overpayment offer reportedly came before the contractor even knew what the tree removal would cost. That detail matters because the point may not have been the tree itself; the tree request appears to have been a prop for getting a contractor to accept a bad check and return legitimate money.
Police responded to the home twice, but investigators said they did not have enough information to identify a suspect. Neighbors reportedly saw two men in a red pickup pulling a rented trailer, but no license plate or trailer number was recorded, and the company that actually removed the oak remains unknown.
Missouri Contractors Have Faced Other Fraud Cases
The incident comes as Missouri officials continue pursuing separate contractor-fraud cases. In May, the Missouri Attorney General’s Office announced nearly $100,000 in restitution from a St. Francois County contractor accused of taking large upfront payments and performing little or no work, while Hoodline previously reported on a separate St. Louis-area contractor case tied to alleged tornado-repair fraud.
Red Flags For Tree Companies And Other Small Businesses
Contractors should be wary of customers who refuse phone calls, want work performed before they can be independently verified or offer more money than the job requires. The FTC recommends checking licenses and insurance, getting multiple written estimates and refusing to send money back after receiving an unexpected overpayment; a check that appears to clear can still later be rejected.
The couple’s tree is gone, and replacing a mature bur oak could take decades. Anyone who believes they were targeted can preserve texts, payment records and photographs, contact local police, and file a complaint with the Missouri Attorney General’s Consumer Protection hotline at 800-392-8222, according to the office’s consumer complaint guidance.
