What would YOU do???...weird development.

Update...Okay, so we all went over to the residence. Found the mystery vehicle. It was parked exactly where I saw it park. It is not registered to the residence (and this is all the deputy would tell me). The deputy was not the guy I was thinking he was; he was one of the ones that came out to resolve a livestock issue we had previously, but not the particular guy who lives near here.

We walked around the house. There were absolutely no lights on inside. We couldn’t go in (obviously), but the vehicle was there, just as I had described and the hood was still warm, so the vehicle had been recently driven.

We knocked on the door(s) (they have three), but no one answered. We looked for any signs of breaking and entering, and there were none. It was clearly obvious someone was there, but they were not answering the door.

The owner has two dogs, one of them is not very nice. There was no sign of either dog. Maybe the neighbor took the dogs with him (although this is doubtful for the one dog; it’s pretty wild and untamed). No explanation for where the dogs were; they’re normally there.

I left two messages on the resident’s (I’m not saying his name here) cell phone to call me when he got the message and stated what was going on. The deputy Sheriff also left a message. It’s well after midnight now. There are still no lights on.

We were up there with 3 trucks, bright headlights and the deputy’s spotlights for a good half hour. Nobody showed up. The place was lit up like a Christmas tree with all our lights.

There was no evidence of wrongdoing, but the simple fact they didn’t answer the door is suspicious enough, IMO.

It doesn’t appear to be more than one person (possibly two) from looking at the vehicle. The back seats were full of miscellaneous junk (i.e. jackets, small auto part boxes, etc.), so no indications someone was sitting in them when the vehicle pulled up, but the two front seats were clean and may have been occupied. The vehicle is a ’96 Ford Explorer, gold in color.

There were no outstanding warrants on the vehicle or it’s owner, but the license tags were expired (but less than 30 days, which gets a pass here in Colorado). The backup K-9 unit which showed up after we got there ran a dog around the vehicle and it somewhat alerted, but nothing major (i.e. not enough for a warrant, according to the handler). He said, the way the dog reacted, it was likely marijuana, but a very small amount. Who the driver of the vehicle was is unknown.

The deputy Sheriff was pretty interested in the whole situation and said he’d be back later (he didn’t explain why, even when I asked). They made note of the vehicle make, model and year and radioed in the description to watch for the vehicle if it was seen later tonight.

Our observations were not wrong, and our concern was warranted. Everyone agreed on this.

This is all I know. And this is what happened. I can’t really do any more from here. (…unless…something further happens).

The vehicle is still there, and the lights are still off. The deputy Sheriff is parked down the road (for now). He said he’ll stay there for a while (no idea how long).

It's kind of funny, the deputy said he couldn't park on our road, but had to park out on the County road. There's only one way in and out, so it didn't bother me one way or the other, but I just found that kind of ironic. So, that's apparently where his is (or was). I haven't gone up there to check on him...

I doubt he will stay there for very long, honestly...not on the 4th of July anyway. Probably plenty of DUI's to attend to.

It will be interesting to see what comes of this, and I'm looking forward to hearing back from my neighbor. I've called him a couple times since leaving my earlier messages, but everything still went to voicemail. He's usually pretty good about calling me back, so I should know more by morning.

That's all for now.

Tired.

Happy 4th.

G'night.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Thank you for trying; I think you did the right thing. It may be nothing, but then again it may be something-and now their is a police record with date and time of said vehicle being at the residence should any shenanigans be uncovered. That could be important in any future court case should it turn out they were up to no good and didn't have permission to be there.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Report it. Always. Good neighbor policy. You want them to alert authorities( no matter how far out responders are out)... if that car was up yours when you weren't around.

Most important thing anyone can do...is report. So ..don't give your name,just report it anyway...as you'd hope they'd do for you!
✌️

Big mistake involving the police. Checking the place out for a breakin in was good. take picture of truck and plates and leave it at that. If it is the grandson with a key and permission to stay over and he being just out of school may have taken his 17 year old girlfriend over to play house. Now the police are waiting on the public road to shake them down.. I know a lot of ifs but pausable ifs. You my have just lost your shooting range reply to: Flyingclaydisk

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Call your neighbor.

EDT...reading more, I see you've left messages for him.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
They did give me the the cell phone number of the deputy in the area and said I can call him if I see anything suspicious. My response to them was, I already told them I saw something suspicious, and they clarified..."no, suspicious like as in a crime being committed".

I can't see a damn thing over there now. There's less lights on than before.

GOOD MAN!



Trespassing at night IS SUPSICOUS where I live. You can get shot here in Tennesse doing that. As a victim of a trespasser damaging my property cause he hated my family in his drunkenness, I thank you for caring about your neighbor like that. This guy I had cut a screen from the top floor of our house and it took me a long time before I connected the dots. After we did, my 11 year old daughter came home from school and called 911 she claimed he came in the house (falsely) because he was a bad man that belonged in jail. We sold that house, our dream home to not wake up him over me in my house or vice versa. My wife shot in the air with bird shot from 100 yards away to scare him away when he was trespassing after he was convicted of assaulting here awaiting sentencing and the cops took her in and we had to let him off of assault. That was messed up. The cops said I should have killed him and saved them the hassles with him later. I said you would arrest me. that was that. The bounty hunters came looking for him after we moved. YOU NEVER KNOW what the idiots like that will do.

Update...

Heard back from the neighbor. He finally called me back about 30 minutes ago. Claimed he knew nothing about the Explorer and that no one should have been there. Said the grandson was with him, so it couldn't have been him. Said his MIL drives a gold Honda Odyssey. I told him the vehicle was definitely not an Odyssey, it was absolutely a '96 Ford Explorer. (she's super old anyway) He had no explanation for it.

The Explorer is now gone (as I suspected it would be). I noticed this when I got up this morning. Probably left sometime after I hit the rack. I haven't checked with the widow down the way to see if she saw it leave. Don't really care at this point.

I gave the neighbor the contact info for the deputy who showed up last night. He thanked me profusely for doing what we did. Didn't have any idea what had gone on.

It's between him and the Sheriff's Department now. I'm out of it.

edit - BTW, and yes, I did get pictures of the vehicle (and the license plate) which I will provide to the neighbor when he returns on Sunday/Monday.

Glad it worked out well.a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

a reply to: bigdiggerdog

If anything, I more than likely just ensured unrestricted access to it for life now! Judging by his reaction and over the top thanks to myself and the other neighbor (along with the LEO's).

It wouldn't have been the end of the world though if he'd been upset. We also have a range on our place, but his is nicer. His backstop is higher than mine which I like from a safety perspective for less experienced shooters.

The only differance is I would have waited on the phone call from the neighbor to be sure it wasn't the grandson. THen call the police. Question was what would I do , I would have waited A bit. a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

a reply to: bigdiggerdog

Fair enough.

Let's just hope there's not a next time to test that theory.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: bigdiggerdog

Fair enough.

Let's just hope there's not a next time to test that theory.

If this person was there and nothing happened, then I would suspect it is ok. The need to find out if anything was disturbed would be of primo importance if that was my house. Someone could plant a bug with a move like this. I would want to have a pro see if they could detect anything electronic. There is little reason for a stranger to stop there if not to pee or change drivers really, IMO. Most any other reason would have to be very suspicious to me. Besides the crazy neighbor I saw someone rob the house next door as I was drying off from a shower one day in Nashville probably 30 yeas ago. Some fairly young adult came up to the driveway and walked up to their lawnmower and grabbed it. I yelled out the window I was calling the cops and he walked real slow. As he got in the back gate n the truck he was in was a net and it covered the car tag #.... he got away.. I am interested in this story bro... sorry.

If I was out of town and the neighbors saw someone messing around at our house, I would be glad if they would call me and if I could not be reached, I would want them to call the cops. If I had someone checking the house, they would turn on the lights and not be using flashlights in the house. I usually have someone come and check the house when we are gone...to feed the cat or gold fish and make sure there have not been any pipe breaks or furnace malfunctions in the winter. The freezer and fridge always get checked by the kids getting ice cream out of the freezer or checking what there is to eat in the fridge...they would notice no light on in both of those if they failed and call us. Nice having cell phones these days.

But now we hardly ever go out of town for a trip anymore, we go to check the kids houses and feed their cats when they go out of town though. Both daughters have security set up at their houses, the youngest has cameras all over the place...you need them with five cats. The cats bring chippies into the youngest daughters house just in case of Armageddon. They bring them and release them in case nobody comes to feed them when they are out of town. Being prepared is not just a Boy scout thing.

When we go to feed the cats, the daughter comes on and talks to us most times, the info goes right to her phone when we come to the door.

Well...it must be something, because there are now (3) Sheriff Deputy vehicles up at the house, one of them another K-9 unit. The neighbor has now come home, and cut his vacation short (so he must be at least a little worried about it).

I haven't been over there, but there does seem to be some activity Dogs and Deputies are out walking around. I can't see much other than that, BUT apparently the resident feels something went on.

I see the neighbor out explaining what seems to be lots of stuff to the deputies. No idea of the conversation, but lots of finger pointing and so forth.

Now a 4th County vehicle just pulled up, likely a Sergeant.

Bottom line; this is not nonsense.

From my vantage point, it seems like the focus is the shipping containers. (These are new, and I only noticed them last week).

The shipping containers is where the Ford Explorer parked in between of.

Very strange.

Good story. I'll be checking back on this one.

Interesting developments now...

Now Fire and HAZMAT crews are on scene and at the bottom of the road!

Two EMS units are holding back, at the top of the hill about a half mile back.

Multiple different County agencies responding. No joke here tonight!

The Ford Explorer from last night is long gone (as noted previously), but now the interest seems to be in one (of the two) 40' foot shipping containers behind this dude's house.

Neighbor is home (now) (as noted previously), back early from his vacation, and talking to the authorities. No idea what is being discussed. There are two (2) K-9 teams on site. Both dogs are going nuts at one container! I can see them from the house. (Heck, I can even hear them!!)

I Tried to drive down the road to get the mail (i.e. really to see what was going on), but got blocked. "Stop!! Ongoing "situation"", was all I was told..."go back inside your home"...is all they are saying. I tried to get more info, but they're not talking.

Just now a Life Flight helicopter came in and set down in the neighbor's yard who came over to the house with me last night (they have a good area to land without wires or obstructions). They circled about 4 times before landing. One of the Fire crews waved them down with lights. (They've been to this other house before, but I'm pretty sure the lady they picked up at that residence previously has since passed from pretty serious COPD, so I don't know why they're here now).

State Patrol is on scene now (2 vehicles)

WOW!!!!! I'm really shocked at the moment. Big "ju-ju" going down way out here in BFE tonight!!

This does not look like it's going to end well!!

Flashing lights and strobes as far as I can see down our road!

P.S. I've kind have been writing this post over the last hour or so, and there are continuing developments. There are (now) some even further developments, and one side background comment I want to make. ...

1st item - A few minutes ago some heavy truck came down the road, and it got waved through. It looked like the kind of a truck which hauls roll-on/roll-off refuse containers. Not sure what they're going to do with this truck, but if I had to guess it would be to pick up one of the containers they seem so interested in.

2nd item - (and this is some background info)...Over the past 4-5 months I have seen the propane delivery service we use show up at the neighbor's residence almost weekly. We're all on propane heating out here. Our propane tank is 1,000 gallons, and it will last us 7-8 months for heating and hot water, even in winter. A propane truck showing up to fill their 500 gallon tank every week is odd to say the least (or I've thought it was, and I've even noted this to the wife). As I've noted, this neighbor is a plumber (residential new construction). I've known he was having some personal financial issues a couple years ago (because he told me as much) (up to the point of almost losing his home during covid). My conclusion with the truck showing up frequently recently was thought to be more of the same (i.e. maybe he was just getting just enough to last a couple weeks), so I thought nothing more of it. (I'm pretty much a "live and let live" sort of guy). Well, maybe there is more to this propane usage than meets the eye, and it could have something to do with what is inside the shipping container everyone seems to be so interested in tonight.

More to follow as I know it.

I've now called the neighbor a couple of times, but he's not answering. I totally get that (with everything he has going on). I left him a message like..."Dude! WTF is going on over there???!!!" I haven't heard back (obviously).

I don't know what to think at this point.

I don't know this guy very well, but he seems like a nice enough guy. No idea what he could be into. He is missing a couple teeth, and he did have a roommate several years ago who was an obvious meth addict out of Oregon, but that dude is gone now (and his meth habit is the reason why he got the boot).

I don't think (insert name) is a bad guy, but now I'm beginning to wonder (especially as I look out the window).

I have a notification service with the County which (supposedly) tells me when legal action is going on within a 50 mile radius of our place. I get text messages and a map. It is currently showing an "action" at the residence address. The description only says..."Outstanding Felony Warrant". As I look out the window, it sure looks like a helluva lot more than just a felony warrant!

edit - If the warrant was just for the homeowner, he'd be gone by now and the whole thing would be over, so there must be something more to this than just that. As I noted, he's out there talking with people, and pointing in various directions (not over here, thankfully).

There's probably (10) or so EMS vehicles (i.e Fire, Hazmat, LEO, and support vehicles, etc.) on the road right now (I haven't counted them exactly, the strobes are way too intense to count).