JOHNSON COUNTY, KS (KCTV) -
A rash of burglaries are popping up in two different counties on either side of the state line and the thieves know what they're doing.
Nearly a dozen homes in southern Johnson County, KS, and Cass County, MO, have been hit and police are looking for the public's help in catching the people doing it.
The most recent home that was burglarized happened on Monday in Stilwell, KS. In all 11 break-ins, the crimes happened in the middle of the day.
Beautiful views with plenty of wide-open spaces for farm animals to roam freely are just some of the reasons why families move out to the peaceful parts of rural Johnson County.
"I think more family-oriented, close ties to farming. A little bit of the city and little bit of country all at the same time," Shirley McCowen, the manager of the Stillwell Station gas station, said of why some people have moved to the area.
McCowen has called Stilwell home for 18 years. Last week a detective stopped in and told her to be on the look out for people not from the area.
Four of the burglaries in the past two weeks occurred along Mission Road in Stilwell between 163 and 215 streets. There have been four more in the area of 215 Street from Spring Hill to Edgerton as well as two just south of De Soto, KS, and one on State Line Road in Cass County.
The Master Deputy with the Johnson County Sheriff's Office Tom Erickson said the crimes happened between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. while homeowners were at work and the houses are located in rural areas away from neighbors or possible witnesses.
"They're (the homes) out in the unincorporated part of the county so they're isolated a little more than they would be if you were in a typical neighborhood. It kind of makes them an easier target because there's not people around all the time, keeping an eye on them.," Erickson said. "What we really ask is – neighbors have seen things that would be very important for us to know, cars in the area that you know don't belong there. They're not neighbors or friends of neighbors that you see."
Erickson said all that were hit were rural homes, making them easy targets because neighbors live so far apart from each other.
The sheriff's department wants to hear from anyone who may have spotted a suspicious car in the area or from those who've had someone knock on their door recently pretending they were lost or with some other excuse for being at a person's doorstep.
"Someone knocked on your door and asked you some ridiculous question, looking for someone or something for sell at the wrong place. Those are typical questions," Erickson said. "These people, when they knock on the door, they'll come up with an excuse why they are there and if you answer, they'll go away. If you don't, they'll kick in door."
McCowen said she's going to do her part to spread the word to her customers about the crime spree.
"Get a big dog, watch out for each other," she said.
Deputies said the crooks are taking off with thousands of dollars worth of electronics, guns and jewelry from the homes.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Johnson County Sheriff's Office Investigations Division at 913-715-5560, go online to www.jocosheriff.org and click on Report a Crime or call the TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS (8477).
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