As their phone connected to Wi-Fi in the early morning hours, Rob Kaufman and his wife were alerted to something wrong at their cabin in Coosawattee.
The Kaufmans were in Alabama at the time. They were alerted as their phone connected to the hotel internet at 5:30 a.m., Nov. 12, They were watching scenes from several hours earlier.
In the video, a man wearing a mask and a headlamp and carrying what looks like a gun enters through the back of their cabin. He begins looking through their home.
A Ring indoor camera shows the perpetrator knocking things off shelves as he searches for valuables. A light can be seen as he opens the refrigerator in the kitchen.
Kaufman said items totaling $4,000 were stolen including a side-by-side vehicle, jewelry, a chainsaw and a boat motor. The thief also damaged locks on the home and shed and spray-painted a front door camera black.
Kaufman said the perpetrator first visited the house the previous day, during broad daylight. He painted over the front door camera and jimmied the back lock.
“Just kind of scoping out the place,” Kaufman said.
Gilmer County detectives spent three to four hours at the home following the reported break-in taking fingerprints, DNA samples and photographs, he said.
No one has been charged with the break-in at this time.
Captain Frank Copeland, of the Gilmer County Sheriff’s Office, said eight burglaries have been reported in the area since Nov. 1 and 36 thefts.
He said detectives and deputies are working the cases to find the perpetrators. Patrols have also been stepped up in the area.
Copeland encouraged people, especially in remote areas, to purchase doorbell cameras with cloud storage. He said they capture a lot of helpful information.
Also, he said people should take the usual precautions, leaving lights on, even having them on timers.
“If you see a car in the yard you are not used to seeing, call it in,” Copeland encouraged neighbors. “We are happy to check those things out.”