TACOMA, Wash. - A family feud may be behind a fake ad on Craigslist that invited people to take whatever they wanted for free from a Tacoma home, but it appears police aren't ready to haul anyone to jail for it.
Neighbors tell KING 5 News the woman who used to live in the home died recently. Her children lived there with her, but after her death, homeowner Laurie Raye kicked out her brother and sister. That's leading some to speculate the siblings may be responsible for the ad.
Tacoma Police say they consider the case to be a civil matter, not a criminal one.
A phone caller alerted Raye to the destruction. She walked through her garbage strewn front yard to find her house dismantled.
"Including the front door," said Raye. "This used to be a very nice vinyl window here."
From the light fixtures to the hot water heater, everything is gone - including the kitchen sink.
Her neighbors later reported seeing strangers hauling stuff away from her home, seemingly looking for salvage material.
The "ad" was posted on Craigslist last weekend.
"In the ad, it said come and take what you want. Everything is free," said Raye. "Please help yourself to anything on the property."
An off-duty Tacoma police officer noticed the Craigslist ad last week, inviting people to enter the unlocked house and take whatever they wanted. Later, that same officer noticed the ad was flagged and canceled after a reported burglary at the house.
"We've had a lot of scams off of Craigslist," said Detective Gretchen Ellis, Tacoma Police Department. "We've had prostitution things happen, rental scams, fraudulent activity. In this case, it appeared the items were going to be given away, but they were not."
"This can happen to anybody, but look what happened to me," said Raye.
Raye believes the unknown person who posted the ad carries a personal grudge against her, but that person also conned unsuspecting people into taking part.
"The instigator who published this ad invited the public to come in and vandalize me," said Raye.
When Raye contacted Craigslist, she received an email back saying they can't release information about who posted the ad without a subpoena or search warrant. Tacoma Police say they are not going to require Craigslist to reveal who placed the ad.
KING 5 was unable to get anyone from Craigslist to personally respond to this story, but the Web site has a long list of rules that clearly prohibit people from posting material that is illegal, harmful, threatening or harassing.
http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_040507WABcraigslistadLJ.34e92f1d.html#
