Need advice on a really tough issue

So things have been mysteriously disappearing around my house for years. We (my family) always thought it was just us losing things.

Well this has been growing recently. I have had a DS, two iPods and many video games that have gone missing in the last year. This also includes my prized Deion Branch Seahawk receiving gloves. My brothers have both had many games just vanish and recently the games IN their DS' have been taken.

This brings me to who I think has been stealing things from my house. He is an 11th grader who I have known since he moved here 7 or 8 years ago. He is ok friends with one of my brothers (who is also in 11th grade) and plays football and stuff all the time with my youngest brother (who is only 11). Now I always thought it to be odd why he would hang out with a kid that much younger than him. What made us realize why he was stealing things is my brothers both left their DS' on the counter. The next day they looked in them they no longer had any games. He is the only one that came over that day. Not only this but he was seen wearing XL Gloves (the EXACT same as mine) by my brother. His hands are VERY small and he wore a pair of gloves underneath so the gloves would fit.

Now myself and the rest of my family all believe very strongly that he is stealing things, but the problem is we don't have any hard evidence that he has stolen things. I cannot just go up to him and tell him that I know he stole things without FOR SURE knowing. So what do I do? This has been leaving a REALLY bad feeling in my gut recently....

Bait him - and set up a web cam. Something small and tempting. Maybe some cash. Like a couple of twenties. Or perhaps a couple of video games for the old DS.

You'll never be sure unless you catch someone red handed. A couple of cheap hidden cameras will do the trick.

Make sure you REALLY want to know before you bait the trap though. As for what to do if you catch him... no advice there. But start with the tape.

There are few things as bad as having a thief in your house. My family had one living with us for a while when I was younger. We eventually discovered what was going on, tossed his stuff in front of him, took everything that was ours, and dropped him off in the middle of the nearest town with instructions not to return.

But he was a relative. I don't know how you deal with a friend. I'd stop having him over. Confronting him will neither stop him nor get your stuff back. Unless of course you want to press charges.

GrumpyCoyote said:

Bait him - and set up a web cam. Something small and tempting. Maybe some cash. Like a couple of twenties. Or perhaps a couple of video games for the old DS.

You'll never be sure unless you catch someone red handed. A couple of cheap hidden cameras will do the trick.

Make sure you REALLY want to know before you bait the trap though. As for what to do if you catch him... no advice there. But start with the tape.

Click to expand...

Catch a Predator LOL but Catch a Thief haha.

i would talk to the kids parents, if they are up right people. if the parents seem like weirdos as well, i would them camera this kid and see if he does do something. but i highly recommend your parents talking to his parents and see if the kids parents find him bringing new things home.

i hope my 2 cents help a bit, though i am poor

GrumpyCoyote said:

Bait him - and set up a web cam. Something small and tempting. Maybe some cash. Like a couple of twenties. Or perhaps a couple of video games for the old DS.

You'll never be sure unless you catch someone red handed. A couple of cheap hidden cameras will do the trick.

Make sure you REALLY want to know before you bait the trap though. As for what to do if you catch him... no advice there. But start with the tape.

Click to expand...

I agree with Coyote. I think it is always better to find out.

Yep. I think Coyote's approach would be the most harmless and efficient approach. Cameras never lie!

get a cuddecam. It's a real cheap motion sensor cam that takes snap shots when something activates it. Oh man, I have used it for hunting but never to catch a douchebag before. hrm better to know than wonder. Hope all works well with you. Breach of trust from guest really suck.

Definitely cam him. Set some bait like Coyote said. If you go over to talk to the kids parents accusing him of being a theief without any concrete evidence, that's going to be trouble. Before you do any confrontations make sure you have proof.

You sound pretty sure it's him.You could confront him and tell him you plan to go to the police if everything is not returned.This might scare him enough to solve the problem.

ukudele said:

get a cuddecam. It's a real cheap motion sensor cam that takes snap shots when something activates it. Oh man, I have used it for hunting but never to catch a douchebag before. hrm better to know than wonder. Hope all works well with you. Breach of trust from guest really suck.

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i believe Fry's sells those, yeah?

If you have a webcam, a lot of them come with software that has the "motion sensor" recording, which reads when something moves on screen, and then starts recording.

You might also want to start writing your name in marker on your dvd's etc.

hoosierhiver said:

You sound pretty sure it's him.You could confront him and tell him you plan to go to the police if everything is not returned.This might scare him enough to solve the problem.

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Yea, but get the proof via the hidden camera first, or else you will never get those things back. Show him the tape, then threaten him with criminal charges unless he returns the goods. That'll scare the pants off him....

GrumpyCoyote said:

Bait him - and set up a web cam. Something small and tempting. Maybe some cash. Like a couple of twenties. Or perhaps a couple of video games for the old DS.

You'll never be sure unless you catch someone red handed. A couple of cheap hidden cameras will do the trick.

Make sure you REALLY want to know before you bait the trap though. As for what to do if you catch him... no advice there. But start with the tape.

Click to expand...

very good idea

Make sure yea hide that camera, He might want that too... :biglaugh:

Sorry, Yea Your gonna have to catch him

Sure, catch him with a camera, but then let the grown-ups deal with it, parent to parent. If he's been doing it a while, his parents probably already know they have a problem. If the family seems dysfunctional, have your parents go to the local police. Don't give him crap, just get your stuff back and don't have him over anymore. This kid obviously has bigger problems going on. Perhaps have your folks let his guidance counselor at school know, this kid needs to talk to a psychologist.

So, any update, JumpingFlea?

If my family were in that sitch, we'd probably shut him out completely. And IF he were guilty, it wouldn't be mean, because he'd know the reason why.

^ if u cant do the time, dont do the crime..

not sure what that has to do with anything, but what i mean is u get what u deserve in the end.

This family I know had a couple of young kids living with them. Call it long-term babysitting. The young kids' parents take them home on the weekends. Anyways, the family have been losing money and not know why. They figured the mother was absent-minded and lost the money. Finally they deducted it was the two young girls living with them. So, the son set up some kind of camera and baited them by putting money into his wallet. Sure enough, the camera captured one of the girls going into his wallet and took money out of there. When the weekend came, the host family told the girls' parents. They were in disbelief. The family then told the father to look into the girl's back pack. He found $200 dollars in it. The family had both proof and evidence.