Deputies search for two men they say stole a tractor trailer

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. - Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputies need help finding two men who, they say, stole a semi truck and trailer with tens of thousands of dollars worth of cargo.

Investigators tell ABC Action News the men were seen on surveillance video at a Walmart on North Dale Mabry before talking the truck.

In the video, they are seen buying a padlock. Deputies say they later went to Creekside Nursery in Tampa, and stole a tractor trailer. They reportedly cut the lock to the fence, then replaced it with the one from the store. 

Becsy Gomez owns the truck. She and her husband went to pick it up Sunday, but it was nowhere to be found. It was gone, along with $80,000 worth of aluminum pipes on the trailer. Gomez said, "We have insurance that helps us with all that things. But even with that, it's going to be a high cost for us."

Authorities say the men boosted the truck sometime after 2:00 Sunday morning. Gomez has been parking her rig in the lot for two years.  Gomez said, "This is pretty safe. This parking lot belongs to a company that most of the time, the people who park in here know each other."

Tonight, deputies hope someone will know and identify the men in the video. They say the pair left a paper trail in the Walmart parking lot.

Larry McKinnon, spokesperson for the sheriff's office, said, "Deputies found a receipt and lo and behold, they could see on the Walmart receipt, it was a padlock. So they went back to that store. Time stamped on the receipt. They looked at the surveillance video and could actually see these guys."

The men reportedly took off from Walmart in a red Ford F-150 truck. 

The owner of the truck lot tells ABC Action News he's going to upgrade security at the lot, including installing video cameras and more lights. This marks the second time a truck has been stolen from the location. 

If you have any information about this crime, you can call the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.