Authorities in southwest Iowa say they’ve found several clues toward solving a series of home burglaries in the Council Bluffs area where the residents were attending funerals. Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeff Danker says an alert house-sitter gave authorities the information they needed to make a big leap in the case.
"Somebody pulled into the driveway, came up to the house and asked if there was a pond around there to fish," Sheriff Danker says. "It sounded suspicious to the individual." That person jotted down the license plate number and vehicle description and called the sheriff’s office.
Danker says they ran the plate and quickly located an address for the suspect. When deputies went to talk to the suspect, he wasn’t home, but someone else let deputies inside. While there, the law officers noticed some things seemed out of place.
Danker says, "While they were speaking to him, they noticed some items, we believed they were some items taken in a burglary, so we were able to obtain a search warrant." Deputies seized enough stolen items to fill ten pages — from assorted heirlooms to wedding rings.
They are now looking for a "person of interest" identified as 37-year-old Karl Schmidt. He’s wanted on warrants for failure to appear in court.