Upon returning from a vacation, a Lake Tahoe homeowner faced a shocking reality: his home had been invaded, his possessions vanished, and an uninvited guest had been living in his house.
The homeowner, whose residence is located on the Nevada shores of Lake Tahoe, had been absent for three weeks prior to his return on June 5.
In his absence, an intruder had feasted on his food and beverages, rearranged his belongings, and taken some of his clothes, as reported by the police. Disturbingly, the homeowner also noted that his birth certificate was among the missing items.
According to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, evidence indicated the house had been ‘illegally occupied.’ They have identified Clarence Zillman as a person of interest while delving into the matter.
Authorities claim that Zillman left behind a significant clue: his wallet, which contained a Visa debit card bearing his name and a Safeway receipt for two packs of Camel cigarettes.
Investigators reviewed surveillance footage from the Safeway location at the Round Hill Shopping Center in Zephyr Cove, which is on the southern shore of Lake Tahoe.
They matched the video with the cigarette purchase to obtain a relatively clear image of the person who bought the items.
In the photo, the person of interest can be seen wearing a blue plaid shirt and a baseball cap, which the victim recognized as his own, police said.
Police released this image of a person of interest in the case of a squatter who left behind a wallet with a debit card in his name at a house in Lake Tahoe
The homeowner had been on vacation, and when he returned, he found that some of his belongings were missing. Lake Tahoe is pictured
Authorities released the photo and asked the public to share any information they might have about the pictured individual, likely to confirm that he is indeed Zillman.
The homeowner found the shirt that he recognized from the surveillance footage, but the hat was missing, police said.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation was still active as of July 9.
The person in the photo has not been named a suspect. He is instead a person of interest until police have enough evidence to accuse him of squatting in the house.
Police have asked anyone who recognizes the man in the surveillance footage or might have any information relevant to the investigation to contact Investigator JT Davis at 775-586-7253.
The Daily Mail has covered several other bizarre cases of squatting in recent months.
Across the pond last week, a British couple returned after a three-month absence to their holiday home in Menorca, a Spanish island in the Mediterranean.
Upon arriving, they discovered that a 55-year-old man and his 25-year-old son had been living on the property and had installed a new security system. The couple’s furniture and rugs were also gone.
The homeowner also found that the squatter had helped themselves to food and beverages and said his birth certificate was missing (Stock images of homes on Lake Tahoe)
Police were able to identify a person of interest because the squatter had left a receipt for cigarettes in the house (Stock images of homes on Lake Tahoe)
In March, a 66-year-old woman named Hilarie Page was summoned to court for reportedly refusing to leave a four-story property on Manhattan’s Upper East Side following the death of its wealthy owner.
She had been working as a live-in housekeeper for entrepreneur Craig Schmeizer before his death – which came just weeks after she was arrested for allegedly assaulting him.
And in February, a self-proclaimed bankruptcy expert named Tamieka Goode, 40, was revealed to have been squatting in a $2.3 million Bethesda, Maryland, home after a pre-law student living next door saw her changing the locks when the previous homeowner went into foreclosure.
She had touted her services as a financial advisor online and shared ‘inspirational’ social media posts of herself, her Porsche and her mansion, suggesting she was a self-made success.
But the student soon uncovered paperwork that told the real story: Goode was living on food stamps, relying on child support from the father of her 16-year-old daughter and was herself bankrupt.