The Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the disappearance of a front porch.

Yes, a porch, as in that wooden structure on the outside of a house that can be used to hang out and barbecue with friends.

The porch was reported missing March 24 at a mobile home subdivision east of Cortez. The owners of the trailer, Bonnie Quinnett and Shelly Roy Fahsholtz, said they noticed the porch missing shortly after learning their tenants planned to move out.

“You see, my front porch is missing,” Quinnett told Deputy Estevan Valles, while standing outside the property.

Indeed, all that remained on the side of the trailer was a front door, suspended 3 to 4 feet off the ground, clearly missing a porch or a set of stairs.

But in a twist of events, it is Quinnett and Fahsholtz who are charged with a crime.

Patty Samora, a neighbor, told deputy Valles she witnessed Fahsholtz use a ladder to crawl through a window into the mobile home. He then opened the front door to allow Quinnett inside. Both were inside the house for about five minutes, according to an incident report.

But the tenants still lived at the house.

Deputy Valles said he contacted Quinnett and Fahsholtz to explain tenant-landlord laws, specifically the part that prohibits landlords from breaking into tenants’ homes.

Fahsholtz told the deputy he thought the trailer was vacated and that he entered through a window because the gas company planned to turn off the gas, and he didn’t want the water pipes to freeze.

The deputy asked Fahsholtz if he noticed his tenants’ personal property inside the trailer, and he said, “Yes,” according to an arrest report. The deputy explained that if he saw bedding inside the home, it should have been an indication that someone still lived there, and he had no right to enter without notifying the tenant.

Fahsholtz became agitated, saying, “I own that trailer, and I have the right to enter it when my property could be damaged.”

Efforts to reach Quinnett and Fahsholtz this week were unsuccessful.

During a phone interview this week, Undersheriff Jim Kingery said the owners have been charged with second-degree trespass, a misdemeanor.

“Being the tenant and still living there, he does have an expectation of privacy within the home,” Kingery said. “They (Quinnett and Fahsholtz) are the owners, but they’re renting to him, and it doesn’t give them the right just to enter his home whenever they want. They at least need to be in contact with him and let him know what their concerns were with water freezing and whatnot.”

But what of the missing porch?

Shannon Lewis told deputies Ivan Lewis purchased all the wood and built the front porch himself. And Samora, the neighbor, confirmed she saw Ivan Lewis build the porch shortly after moving in.

If Ivan Lewis bought the wood and built the porch, he technically owns it and has a right to remove it, Kingery said.

Efforts to reach tenants Shannon and Ivan Lewis were unsuccessful.