SAN DIEGO — A disgruntled neighbor may have used the Craigslist free ads to harass an El Cajon woman by inviting strangers to help themselves to her family’s possessions.
Kimberlye Thalheimer told NBC 7 San Diego that someone dragged out multiple boxes containing her 11-year-old daughter’s belongings from her carport last week and placed them curbside in front of her house.
Thalheimer said she had put the boxes in the carport temporarily in preparation for moving them into storage.
Meanwhile, an unknown Craigslist user posted a free ad with Thalheimer’s address and the instructions: “Please do not dig through boxes. Must take and remove from property by tonight.”
When Thalheimer returned home Tuesday, she found two people going through the boxes at the curb. At least one other person had been there earlier and taken some things.
Thalheimer thinks a neighbor posted the ad, entered her carport and then dragged all of the boxes down to the curb.
“I mean who does that kind of thing?” Thalheimer said in the interview with NBC 7. “It’s quite a bit of stuff. It didn’t take them two minutes to put it down there. I’m sure somebody saw them pull it down there.”
The ad was pulled after Thalheimer reported the incident to police.
Thalheimer says the items taken include an outdoor baker’s rack, flower pots, dolls and her daughter’s toy ATV. She is is asking for the people who took the items to return them.
Reporter Mike Moffitt has been writing and editing stories for newspapers and news websites for more than 25 years. Before joining the SFGate team, he worked at the San Francisco Examiner, Arizona Republic and Phoenix Gazette. He covers news, politics, science, sports, outdoors and Bay Area history.
