5-5-8

Ten years ago on this date our house was entered illegally by a person who had been welcomed into it a few years prior. He was a young father who held his infant child while inquiring about an engine he needed for the family car. His wife was a friend of ours so we gave them a break on the sale.

After a few years passed by, that young couple divorced and each remarried. At the time he robbed us he had a new wife and infant. He also had been in and out of jail and was on probation at the time. By the time he got to our house he already had a few other hits under his belt. What we later learned from his ex-wife was that he was very comfortable robbing houses that he'd been inside in the past.

On the morning of the fifth as we went about our usual workday routine, he was just down the street a piece way watching and waiting for us to leave. After we left for work, he then pulled his minivan into our driveway, walked to the front door, jimmied the lock and walked in as if he lived here all his life.

He left no fingerprints and no destruction behind. The things he took weren't noticeable when I came home long before my husband did. What I did notice was some lights were on and a door was open that is always kept closed. I thought my husband was just careless because he left for work after I did.

When he came home I reprimanded him on his carelessness. He denied everything ~ so much so that he then started looking around. It was then we noticed things that weren't right...not to mention missing items.

To make a long story short (and it is a long story), we had the state police come out and check everything but we got nowhere with that. They did, however, keep the investigation open. There were no leads. Things looked dismal for us. At that point we felt we had just learned a very harsh lesson in life.

It was the guy's ex-wife that put us on his trail. She had become friendly with his wife at that time and that new wife had loose lips. One of the items taken was a new camcorder I had just bought my husband for Christmas. I had written our name on the manual. The new wife asked the ex-wife if she knew the name. Bingo! She called me at work. The state police took it from there after they located the guy with his wife and child just a few blocks away from the state police barracks where he was living in a motel.

He has been in and out of jail since then and recently was paroled. His probation runs through 2016. We're betting he will never last that long on the outside. His fingers are just too long to last till then. Oh, and then there is a little thing called a drug habit that he also has.

We did get some things back (they had to be kept as evidence till the trial was over) but not everything was found. Insurance paid for some of the missing items. He is responsible for the cash he took, but those checks from the prison are very sporadic. Insurance also covered some of the cash.

Shortly after that happened we had an alarm system installed. But believe me that still isn't enough to make me feel safe and secure. The world is getting crazier by the day and people are getting more desperate and daring.