News and Success Stories

“During another investigation, I noticed some suspicious pawn transactions from a mother, son, and daughter. This Stillwater family had pawned numerous MP3 players and video cameras at several different Oklahoma City pawn shops. These transactions were all within 3-4 days and spread out across several pawn shops in the OKC area. There were approximately 15-20 similar electronic items pawned. I contacted the company that sold the specific MP3 player and learned the mother currently worked at a Return Center in Stillwater and was one of their more `trusted employees.` I also learned of large amounts of electronic products mysteriously disappearing from the company, in which the company’s own investigation had yielded no viable suspects. After showing the management the recent pawn transactions from LeadsOnline, they determined this trusted employee (and some of her co-workers) were actually embezzling large amounts of electronics from the company. LeadsOnline is one of my favorite investigative tools when dealing with property crimes. Now if only the REST of the investigation went as easy!”

Paul Priegel
Stillwater Police Department
Oklahoma

“Meticulously utilizing LeadsOnline I was able to arrest four suspects. A total of eight felony charges, including four burglary charges and four grand larceny over $10,000 charges were filed, and another department was able to make three charges based off the same case. This case was a multi-jurisdictional residential burglary and almost $94,000 in property was recovered thanks to LeadsOnline.”

Jason Tapp
Spartanburg Department of Public Safety
South Carolina

“I was asked to locate two stolen pieces of property, a Samsung TV and a Sony PlayStation. I searched for related serial numbers and received a positive match on both. The serial numbers were off by one character. LeadsOnline saved me lots of time since I did not have to manually search different serial number variations. It only took an extra 2 seconds.”

Jennifer Scavotto
Seminole County Sheriff’s Office
Florida

“Sahuarita Police Department Officer A. Medina took a report detailing a suspected theft from residence of a Canon camera, Canon lens and several items of jewelry. Total value was approximated at $1,500. The victim identified a possible suspect as a person who had been living with her in the prior two months during the time he was relocating and seeking employment. Officer Medina questioned the individual who denied having any knowledge of the missing items. Four days later, assistant to Investigations D. Taylor flagged this case for follow-up. He entered a LeadsOnline search utilizing the name of the individual. The search disclosed several transactions conducted by the individual to include a television, Canon camera, Canon lens, several pieces of jewelry and other miscellaneous items. Taylor called and faxed the pawn company placing a police hold on all items related to the reported theft. He then printed a criminal history report on the suspect which divulged numerous interactions with law enforcement. This information along with the Leads Online search results and original case report were provided to Detective Sergeant J. Zamora for assignment to a detective. The case was assigned to Detective S. Bunting who recovered all relevant and available property from the pawn shop. Many of the jewelry items had already been shipped to another, out of state, branch of the pawn company. Detective Bunting did considerable follow up work with the pawn company and recovered all of the victim’s jewelry as well. The suspect was located by Detective Bunting, arrested and charged with Felony Theft. The arrestee subsequently pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing. All parties thank Leads Online for providing the platform to assist in the process of reuniting the victim with her property as well as the identification and prosecution of the suspect.”

Danny Taylor
Sahuarita Police Department
Arizona

“Within just three months, I’ve closed two cases and recovered a stolen television. The new and improved LeadsOnline is awesome and much easier to use.”

Lorrie Smith
Pima County Sheriff’s Department
Arizona

“Thanks, LeadsOnline. I just received a hit on a digital camera. This makes the third hit today that I have received thanks to your system.”

Lorrie Smith
Pima County Sheriff’s Department
Arizona

“Thanks to LeadsOnline, I found a PlayStation 4 that had been stolen. Thanks, LeadsOnline!”

Lorrie Smith
Pima County Sheriff’s Department
Arizona

“Thanks to LeadsOnline, the following have been found as hits: A Dell Laptop, Olympus Camera, Skill Leaf Blower, Ruger Firearm, LG Phone and Smith & Wesson. Thank you, LeadsOnline!”

Jessica Ryder
Pima County Sheriff’s Department
Arizona

“I got a hit! With the help of a detective leading me to the right place, I was able to locate a stolen bike by searching the serial number. I’m glad I was able to help locate it for the victim.”

Jessica Ryder
Pima County Sheriff’s Department
Arizona

“I was able to find an expensive spotting scope through LeadsOnline that was sold the same day it was stolen in a burglary. Within a week, an arrest was made!”

Dolores Sillik
Pima County Sheriff’s Department
Arizona

“I used LeadsOnline to track property taken in two burglaries, resulting in an arrest and charges being filed in both burglaries. LeadsOnline is a valuable tool to me in my position as an investigator. Thank you Leads!”

Chris Wolfe
Osage County Sheriff’s Office
Missouri

“Using LeadsOnline, our agency was able to recover $10,000 worth of Canon cameras and camera equipment in less than 24 hours after it was stolen. Thank you LeadsOnline for helping make our job easier!”

Cheri Pope
Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office
Florida

“I found 17 pieces of jewelry, estimated at $150,000, that were stolen during a robbery of a high-end jewelry store in our county! The suspect has now been identified and arrested!”

Tori Lowe
Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office
Texas

“I have recovered THREE stolen X-Box gaming systems from three separate burglaries over the past few months using LeadsOnline! I thought my case had hit a dead end, until this happened. It just goes to show; you never know when something is going to pop up! This is my go-to website for any case that I have involving stolen property. We ALL use it, and we ALL love it. Thank you SO much!”

Tyler Robinson
Macedon Police Department
New York

“The Laredo Police Department received a Burglary of Vehicle call. The suspect had broken into the Webb County Medical Examiner van and stolen multiple items including a digital Kodak M530 camera. The police report was filed and a CSI responded to the scene and lifted several prints. We didn’t have a suspect and the AFIS Examiner was loaded with work so we decided to check on LeadsOnline. The Laredo Police Department Investigators found information that a suspect had pawned the camera. The suspect was brought to headquarters for an interview and he confessed to the crime. He also implicated two other suspects. Investigators were able to obtain five (5) Warrants for Burglary of Vehicle C/A, Theft. All suspects were arrested. Thanks to LeadsOnline we were able to stop these burglars that were causing the Laredo Police Department headaches.”

Ricardo Tanguma
Laredo Police Department
Texas

“A residential burglary occurred in late September 2009. Latent print evidence was recovered that eventually identified a suspect in the case. Further investigation revealed that the suspect had two known associates, one of which had no prior criminal record. A pawning check using LeadsOnline of that individual found that he had pawned identical property stolen from the victim’s home the day of the residential burglary. He was subsequently found and arrested for Trafficking in Stolen Property. From that arrest and booking, his prints were now in the system and a positive I.D. was made of his prints at the crime scene. He’s now facing felony charges – as is his partner. Thanks LeadsOnline!”

Steve Parken
Lake Forest Park Police Department
Washington

“I was receiving my tutorial for LeadsOnline. As Travis was explaining things to me, I happened to see a suspect who had pawned several stolen items. Travis helped me solve my case! Great system to have and a great person teaching you about the system!”

Andreas Tountasakis
Kimberly Police Department
Alabama

“A state trooper asked me to conduct some searches on LeadsOnline relating to a burglary case he was working. The stolen items included a Wii system and some games. They belonged to a young boy of around 11 years old. I was able to find the system and the games and the trooper picked them up and returned them to the young boy that night. The boy was so appreciative of our work that he tried to give the trooper one of his basketball trophies! I received an email the next day from the trooper telling me the little boy said to tell me thanks.”

Melinda Thompson
Kentucky State Police, Post 6
Kentucky

“While working a credit card theft/fraudulent use of a credit card case, I hit a snag in identifying the unknown male subject who had been using the cards. All I had to identify the male suspect was a date of birth, which was given when the suspected used the debit card to purchase a large quantity of cigarettes at a business. I entered this date of birth into LeadsOnline and found only three subjects who have sold items with that date of birth. After checking these subjects through our driver’s license database, I found only one subject that matched the description of the suspect that had been fraudulently using the debit cards. I ended up going to his residence and found all of the debit cards and ID’s that were stolen, along with several pieces of merchandise within his home that were purchased with the stolen debit cards. Charges are still pending in this case.”

Heather Hibbitts
Kentucky State Police
Kentucky

“We had a theft in our area and had a suspect name. I ran the suspect through LeadsOnline and found the name we were looking for, but the identifying information was for a different person. Not only were we able to recover the items, but found our suspect was using alternate names as well!”

Christopher Daniels
Kentucky State Police
Kentucky

“Unknown actor(s) were stealing mail, including checks written by the victims to pay bills, from mailboxes in Johnson County. The actor(s) were taking the information from the checks and printing up new checks. While investigating the identity theft, I discovered one of the fraudulent checks had been written to Gamestop for more than $300.00. I contacted Loss Prevention at Gamestop and requested the serial number for the unit that had been purchased with the fraudulent check. Once I received this information, I checked the serial number through LeadsOnline and located the unit which had been pawned. After checking out the suspect, I learned he had been arrested for fraud and other offenses in the past. I shared this information with an investigator at the U.S. Postal Inspector’s Office. It turned out this individual was responsible for mail theft and identity theft in numerous jurisdictions; therefore, it was adopted by the U.S. Postal Inspector’s Office and filed through the federal courts. …All because of LeadsOnline!”

Cindy McGuire
Johnson County Sheriff’s Office
Texas

“More than $37,000 in stolen jewelry was recovered thanks to the hard work of Deputy Arthur Jeames of the Hale County Sheriff’s Office in Greensboro, Alabama. Deputy Jeames ran the suspect’s name through LeadsOnline and was able to not only find the rings, but also the pawn shop had a picture of the suspect holding the stolen rings in her hand!”

Bevely Hamilton
Hale County Sheriff’s Office
Alabama

“During my very first search using LeadsOnline I was able to locate several items that had been stolen during a burglary. It not only enabled me to find my suspect but it also enabled me to return the stolen property to its rightful owner before it was resold and gone forever. I love quality tools that help me to do good work fast. LeadsOnline is definitely one of those tools.”

Daniel Wentzel
Ft. Carson Police
Colorado

“Two suspects recently stole a $2,500 pair of earrings from a Gold & Silver store. Using LeadsOnline, I was able to locate the earrings pawned by the suspects at a nearby pawn shop within a couple of hours of the theft. Using the Hold Forms provided by LeadsOnline, I placed a hold on the earrings, recovered the earrings, and returned them to the owner. This would not have been possible without the assistance and services provided by LeadsOnline.”

Robert Powell
Euless Police Department
Texas

“I searched LeadsOnline for a PS3 and video games stolen in a rash of burglaries. I arrested a suspect and ran him on LeadsOnline and found that he sold many of these systems. I called the victim’s and got serial numbers, and was then able to charge the suspect with four additional burglaries.”

Kevin Morris
Columbus Police Burglary
Ohio

“The hit I received today enabled me to positively identify a suspect, close a case, and notify the rightful owner of where she could retrieve her wedding ring. Thanks LeadsOnline!”

Harold Duncan
Brook Park Police Department
Ohio

“LeadsOnline has been a great help! I recently took a report of a vehicle burglary where a laptop was stolen a few days prior. I searched in LeadsOnline by serial number and found the stolen laptop at a local shop. I got the ticket number with ease and seized the laptop as evidence. Thanks LeadsOnline for making my job easier!”

Kelsie Webb
Boise Police Department
Idaho

“I reviewed a stolen bike report filed online with our agency. The report was filed two weeks after the theft occurred. The victim was able to provide a detailed description of the bike including the serial number. I entered the serial number into the LeadsOnline database and immediately got a hit for the bike being pawned on the same day it was last seen. A warrant for Felony Grand Theft awaits the suspect. This is not the first time I have had great success with LeadsOnline. Thank you LeadsOnline!”

Rick Nielsen
Boise City Police Department
Idaho

“LeadsOnline does it again! I took a report of a vehicle burglary in Boise. The victim is in town temporarily for medical treatments. I was not given a serial number for the two cordless drills stolen, but decided to search for one of them due to its unique model name `Black and Decker Cyclone drill.` The next day, I received notification from LeadsOnline that a match had been found! A person of interest pawned two drills the day of the burglary, one of which was the Black and Decker (though it was entered as a Super Cyclone, LeadsOnline still matched it). I contacted the shop, and they verified the drill did have the victim’s name etched on it. An arrest is pending, and the victim will get his drills back. I cannot thank the staff of LeadsOnline enough for the service they offer and the continued support of law enforcement. THANK YOU!”

Rick Nielsen
Boise City Police
Idaho

“Using LeadsOnline, I was able to locate a stolen bicycle in an adjacent county. The bicycle was recovered, and I opened a much larger investigation into the suspect who had been stealing and pawning for months. I would not have been able to complete my investigation without LeadsOnline!”

Michael Romanowski
Birmingham Police Department
Michigan

“Through LeadsOnline, we were able to solve a case in which two young males were selling jewelry from one of the suspect’s mother (who had recently inherited the jewelry from a deceased relative). Thanks to Leads Online we caught two more bad guys.”

Camellia Vail
Augusta County Sheriff’s Office
Virginia

“The first case I solved using LeadsOnline generated roughly 11 felony charges, including theft and pawn violations. Searching with this program helped me locate stolen property fast enough to locate its rightful owner. I didn’t even need serial numbers since I had one suspect’s name. I also just had a patrol officer hand me three printouts from LeadsOnline regarding a theft case she was working on. It helped me solve the case and retrieve all the stolen property within one day. Using the serial numbers, I tracked down three different felony pawns.”

Jeremiah Brunner
Arvada Police Department
Colorado

“We have used the service and it works well. I found some stolen property from a case in March and the items showed up in the business the next day. Thank you for the service.”

Undersheriff Michael Johnson
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office
Montana

“Our agency had a burglary complaint from a local church. Trooper Whitaker responded to the church and spoke with the pastor who explained they had some musical equipment stolen. At the time there were no leads. I logged into LeadsOnline to check if any of the stolen items matched any from my agency. I found a guitar and other equipment that was sold in a city about two hours from the church. When I checked the subject’s name, I quickly realized he lived about half a mile from the church that was burglarized. I immediately called the business to make sure they still had the items in their possession, and luckily they did. I explained to them the situation, and they were very understanding. I contacted Trooper Whitaker and advised him of the findings, and he was familiar with the suspect. He retrieved the items from the business and returned it to the church where they were able to enjoy them once again. Trooper Whitaker also located the suspect who gave a full written confession for the crime. Since then, he has been indicted on the charges. Without LeadsOnline these items would have never been recovered and an arrest would not have happened so quickly.”

Trooper Daniel Vossmer
Kentucky State Police
Kentucky

“I was working a burglary where I was trying to find eight stolen watches. I found three of those watches that were a positive hit and identified by the victim. Thank you for allowing me to share my story.”

Support Specialist Jessica Ryder
Pima County Sheriff’s Department
Arizona

“I have been able to search by a suspect’s name and time period, allowing me to recover stolen property, and even more evidence against my suspect. My victim and I are both happy customers thanks to LeadsOnline!”

Sr. Ofc. Amanda Cryer
Rocky Mount Police Department
North Carolina

“I check LeadsOnline daily and have been able to locate stolen property within a day of it being reported stolen. This is a great tool for law enforcement, and I think our victims appreciate the quick turn around on their cases.”

Sr. Ofc. Amanda Cryer
Rocky Mount Police Department
North Carolina

“In the past three weeks our department has recovered $25,000 in property. Since our first trial with LeadsOnline in 2010, we have had a significant amount of success. Without LeadsOnline, our success rate and recovery of property would be much different. Thank you.”

Sr. Ofc. Steve Frantz
Eagle Point Police Department
Oregon

“I recently had a family who had to put their daughter and boyfriend out of the house because of personal conflict. The father was in the hospital and not in the house to notice numerous hunting knives, old coins, compound bow and numerous tools and pieces of unique turquoise jewelry missing. The mother was looking for some of the coins to take to her husband in the hospital and discovered they were missing. This led to her looking for other valuables that her husband asked her to check on. She discovered the above mentioned items missing and reported them to us. I immediately worked on getting into LeadsOnline and checking the database for the daughter and boyfriend to see if they had sold any of the missing items. I immediately made a successful hit on the turquoise jewelry that had been sold by the boyfriend. I am still working the case and finding more items that were stolen from his ex-employer, but never reported. This individual has a lengthy felony history and is going to be going away for a long time thanks to the information tracked by LeadsOnline. This all happened from the comfort of my desk without burning a drop of gas! How nice not to have to beat the streets searching all the businesses anymore!”

Sr. Inv. K.H. Jordan III
King and Queen County Sheriff’s Office
Virginia

“I solved a residential burglary on Christmas Day using tips from LeadsOnline. Tools were stolen and listed in a transaction the day after the burglary. I retrieved all of the stolen items and made an arrest the following day. Thanks LeadsOnline!”

Spec. Travis Brown
Fort Mitchell Police Department
Kentucky

“Within my first day of having LeadsOnline, I was able to locate an item reported stolen in a B&E case I’m working.”

Spec. Gregory Ream
Conover Police Department
North Carolina

“I am Senior Special Agent Steve Bundy with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. I have found LeadsOnline to be an awesome resource in monitoring pawn shop activity on a large scale. It proved an asset in recovering property from two states in a large-scale, statewide investigation.”

Spec. Agt. Steve Bundy
Kansas Bureau of Investigations
Kansas

“In my first 10 min on LeadsOnline, I found stolen property from an active case and a number of persons of interest and their activates in and around our area.”

Sheriff Edward Miller
Shackelford County Sheriff’s Office
Texas

“Using the LeadsOnline trial, I was able to recover stolen jewelry and a DVD player pawned by two different people from the same burglary. It’s a great tool that should be used by all law enforcement and pawn shops.”

Sheriff R.B. Hauf
Payne County Sheriff’s Office
Oklahoma

“Today I was able to recover a stolen mandolin, which allowed me to solve a burglary.”

Sgt. Inv. Robert DePaemelaere
Blount County Sheriff’s Office
Alabama

“Quickest turn around in my career thus far. Within 20 minutes of the original report being made, we located the stolen items in one of our local shops. In less than two hours, the property was identified, recovered and returned to the rightful owner. Makes us look like rock stars to our community – couldn’t do it without LeadsOnline.”

Sgt. Valerie Blanton
Wrightsville Beach Police Department
North Carolina

“Quickest turn around in my career thus far! Within 20 minutes of the original report being made, we located the stolen items in one of our local businesses. In less than two hours, the property was identified, recovered and returned to the rightful owner. This makes us look like rock stars to our community, and we couldn’t do it without LeadsOnline.”

Sgt. Valerie Blanton
Wrightsville Beach Police Department
North Carolina

“Once again, I want to thank LeadsOnline. I was able to track down a stolen iPad that was taken in a burglary. I found that the iPad was pawned the day after the burglary. I was able to obtain all the information on the suspect and video from the pawn store. An arrest was made just a few days later. Thanks again for all of your help.”

Sgt. Vince Lamanna
Winchester Police Department
Illinois

“7:45 – Started coffee., 7:50 – Reviewed last night’s reports., 8:00 – Read report of larceny: jewelry. Roommate listed as suspect., Checked LeadsOnline., 8:15 – Listed suspect pawned stolen jewelry day after moving out., Case closed., 8:16 – Coffee still warm.”

Sgt. Daniel Serrano
Westland Police Department
Michigan

“I recently had a case where a 67 year old widow was the victim of a burglary. She immediately suspected her son’s care giver. Her son suffers from Cerebral palsy. Several items of jewelry were taken in the burglary. She stated the only things she was really concerned with were her and her husband’s wedding bands. She stated the rings were purchased in the 70’s at a cost of approximately $900 for hers and $750 for his. She stated she did have the rings appraised several years ago and the values were $5,000 and $3,800. A quick and easy check of LeadsOnline showed that the subject/care giver involved had been pawning small items at a local pawn shop but nothing related to this case. He had pawned some old coins and broken pieces of jewelry along with a small ring. After talking to the victim again she stated last year she had a full length black mink coat stolen, appraised value $15,000. There was no forced entry and no arrest had ever been made. She then stated that she had recently realized that several of her deceased husband’s old coins were missing. I asked about any broken jewelry and she stated she did notice that several pieces were missing but never reported it. To make a long story short the care giver was arrested, the broken jewelry at the store was recovered and was hers. The subject had not pawned the wedding bands yet as he knew they were very expensive looking and was thinking of keeping them. The wedding bands and other stolen jewelry were recovered. Also the suspect confessed and gave me the pawn shop that the mink coat was taken to. After 1 year in storage the coat was still there and the victim got her coat back too; thank you LeadsOnline.”

Sgt. Daniel Serrano
Westland Police Department
Michigan