ALEXANDER COUNTY, N.C. — Deputies have arrested two people who are accused of stealing $200,000 worth of antiques from a home in Alexander County last month.
Investigators said Michael Knepp and Vicki McPherson stole the antiques from the home in the Bethlehem community on Dec. 29. Items included assorted jewelry, pre-World War II model trains and a U.S. naval officer's sword.
"It takes a pretty low-down person that's supposed to be there working for a company looking after an elderly person who was in a wheelchair," Alexander County Sheriff Chris Bowman said.
Deputies said the stolen property ended up at the Gold King in Hickory, where the owner said he remembers Knepp and McPherson coming in together.
"(They) said that they had inherited it, and she had told us the story and he told us the story and to several other employees," owner Marty McDaniel said.
The owner said he photographs items that he buys and posts them with the seller's information for police to see on LeadsOnline. The sheriff's office subscribes to the online service, which gave them the initial break that they needed.
"I was pretty happy. I realized when I found the first piece -- I said, 'This is going to lead us to where our bad guy is,'" Detective Buddy McKinney of the Alexander Sheriff's Office said.
"We have backed law enforcement. We have worked with law enforcement. We do what we have to do We do what we're supposed to do," McDaniel said.
Deputies said it costs them $200 to $300 per month for the service, but they get that money back through drug investigations, where they often seize money.
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