Residents report suspicious incident

One local family is still reeling after con artists allegedly made their way into their house with the hope of later robbing it.

Residents on the 1600 block of Rose Lane in Lower Gwynedd Township reported a suspicious occurrence at their home July 8 at 12:30 p.m.

According to police, one of the residents said she came in contact with a man named “Bill,” who claimed he was from the Lower Gwynedd Township water department and was checking the area to stake out water lines in the neighborhood for a development that would be coming soon. The man, who claimed he was 79 years old, though looked younger, according to the resident, was described as a darker skin white man, who was very polite and well dressed. He asked the resident if she could walk him around the property, so he could get the property lines in order and said he wasn’t allowed to be there without her. They walked to the backyard and the resident left the garage door open. The man held a Walkie Talkie and spoke only numbers into it instead of words. Then he and the resident talked for several minutes and at one point he asked about the woman’s family. He then let her know she’d be receiving a letter in the mail regarding workers who would be coming out to stake the ground on her property. He then left, walking toward Welsh Road.

According to police, the resident’s husband, who was in the living room at the time, then said three white men entered the living room and told him they were from the Lower Gwynedd Township water department. The first man, described as 6 feet tall, medium build, looking about in his 30s, with black hair, asked where all the sinks, showers and toilets were in the house, since they would have to shut them off. The resident then said he showed them where they were in the house. While the first man went into the room adjacent to the living room, the other two— described as in their 20s, with blonde hair, between 5 feet 8 inches and 5 feet 10 inches and medium build — went upstairs with a blue and white bag and were in and out within five minutes. The three men then left through the open garage.

When the owners’ son came home from work at about 4:30 p.m., he said he saw a blue hatchback vehicle in the driveway, according to police. As he approached the vehicle, the car pulled out and drove east on Welsh Road. The son went inside and asked his parents if anyone had been visiting the house. They said there hadn’t been. He then went up to his room and found several drawers out of place and a metal document container open. He came back down and asked his parents again if anyone had been to the house. The resident recalled her encounter with Bill and the other resident talked about the Lower Gwynedd water department workers.

The three then searched the house to see if anything was missing, but nothing was, according to police. There were, however, a number things out of place.