Are Break-Ins the Work of 'Barefoot Bandit'?
Authorities believe S.Dakota break-ins may be work of elusive teen criminal.
June 21, 2010— -- Colton Harris-Moore, known as the "barefoot bandit," who has allegedly stolen planes and broken into homes around the Pacific Northwest, may have fled to South Dakota.
Officials say that a string of burglaries in that state have a pattern that may match the style of Harris-Moore.
"We had a car that was stolen out in Spearfish, South Dakota, and it was driven across the state," said Yankton Police Assistant Chief Jerry Hisek. The car was taken from an airport and then driven to the local airport in Yankton, S.D., Hisek said. The airport was also broken into.
Later there was a residential burglary in the same area, by a man who was described as 6 feet tall and about 175 pounds, which seems partially to match the description of Harris-Moore.
According to Hisek, there was evidence at the burglarized residency "that he may have cut or shaved his head." There was brown hair left at the crime scene.
There was also evidence that the perpetrator had eaten at the home and taken a shower in what appeared to be the hours that he was there.
There were other attempted burglaries in the area, and tracking dogs were dispatched as well as helicopters.
"It's hard to say" whether or not the break-ins were the work of Harris-Moore, Hisek said.
"We have no evidence to show at this time that it is definitely him and we have nothing to show that it isn't him."
The Yankton Police Department has received a number of calls from several jurisdictions in Washington state and has received photographs of Colton Harris-Moore to help with this ongoing investigation.
Harris-Moore is considered a possible suspect in the crimes that took place in South Dakota, as well as crimes that took place Sunday morning in Nebraska, according to Steven Hecker, captain of the Norfolk, Neb., police department.
Hecker told ABC News that the stolen car from South Dakota was recovered at the Karl Sefan airport in Nebraska and a 2008 Cadillac Escalade has been stolen from that airport. That vehicle was recovered in Pella, Iowa.
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