Snow and social media lead investigators to serial burglary suspect

Snow and social media are credited with helping lead law enforcement to a serial burglary suspect accused of stealing from King County homeowners for months.

The King County Sheriff's Office says someone started breaking into garages, sheds, and other outbuildings in the eastern part of the county in August 2018.  But it was just last week that someone spotted the suspect walking near Dulthie Hill Park, recognized him from social media posts, and called 911.

When law enforcement arrived, the man was gone - but thanks to all the snow, deputies were able to  follow a set of tracks into nearby woods, and then use a K-9 to track the suspect back to a campsite more than two miles away.



Deputies arrested the suspect without incident, and took two truckloads of stuff from the campsite.  Now, the sheriff's office is sharing pictures of the items they salvaged, hoping that the original owners will be able to identify them.  You can find the gallery here.

It's not the first time this year - or even this month - that law enforcement officers followed tracks in the snow straight to a suspect.  Just hours before someone spotted the King County burglary suspect, Pierce County Deputies responding to reports of a home invasion were able to track down the suspect thanks to footprints left behind in fresh snow.