Saturday, June 11, 2011

Con man claiming to be Joplin tornado survivor arrested

A con man who claimed to be a tornado survivor has been arrested in Joplin. From KY3:

An update now to a story we first told you about last week. You'll remember the Waynesville woman, trying to be a good samaritan to someone who claimed to have lost his house and every thing else in Joplin's tornado.


After seeing the man's story on a dating web site, Pattie Murphy invited him to stay with her for a couple of days. When she returned home from work, she says he had stolen everything of value he could fit into his truck.

From electronic equipment to baseball cards to a closet full of clothes. Turns out the Chevy Avalanche he was driving had been stolen too from Baxter Springs, Kansas. When Joplin police responded to a reported siting of the stolen vehicle, in the Sam's parking lot in Joplin, 55 year old Larry Butler was arrested.

2 comments:

Dorothy Potter Snyder said...

It doesn't surprise, but the story saddens. I hope that the heart of the victim in this case is not hardened by this experience. And I hope she got her stuff back, too.

Anonymous said...

In times of tragedy there are always that try to take advantage of good people. Everyone really needs to watch out for these people and I hope the judges really let them have the maximum they can give.