A Tahoe-area man who reported someone had been living in his house knew sheriff’s deputies were on the right track when they showed him video of a Safeway shopper.
The stranger was wearing the homeowner’s clothes.
The sheriff’s office in Nevada’s Douglas County is now seeking the public’s help identifying the “person of interest.”
A report last week from the agency said the case began when the homeowner returned from a three-week vacation and found that somebody had been inside his house, near Lake Tahoe’s east shore. Among the indications: Food was missing and personal property had been disturbed — including the man’s birth certificate, which was gone.
Sheriff’s investigators searching the home for clues found a recent receipt for the purchase of two packs of Camel cigarettes from the Safeway at the Round Hill Shopping Center, on Highway 50 north of Stateline.
They obtained the store’s surveillance video for the time of the purchase, and zeroed in on a specific shopper.
The homeowner didn’t recognize the man but recognized the clothes: a plaid shirt and a trucker hat from his own wardrobe.
The sheriff’s office has released an image of the shopper, to whom deputies would like to speak, and asks that anyone who has information on the case contact its Stateline office, (775) 586-7253.
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