JENNINGS COUNTY, Ind. — An Indiana woman has been accused of an unusual crime that has gone viral on social media, in part thanks to authorities' humorous Facebook post about the caper.
Jennings County Sheriff’s Office investigators said Joann Childers is facing a theft charge after being accused Monday of stealing another woman’s dentures -- and wearing them to meet her probation officer.
"The victim reported that Joann Childers had stolen her teeth and had reportedly been wearing them around," investigators wrote on the department's Facebook page. "That same morning, Deputy Thomas Mellencamp spoke with a Jennings County probation officer who had met with Joann and the probation officer stated that Joann had worn teeth to her probation meeting that clearly were not hers and that she believed they may be the stolen teeth."
Deputies were able to track Childers down at her home on Wednesday, the post read. As they spoke to her, they spotted the stolen dentures, which had the victim’s name written on them.
The Facebook post included a litany of funny taglines: "#thatsnasty #whytho #getyourown."
“#caughtwithoutmyteethin #takingabiteoutofcrime #gumdecision #illhavejailsoup #shesnotthetoothfairy,” the post read.
On Monday July 22, 2019 Deputy Chris Gholson took a report of stolen dentures from a female in the Country Squire Lakes...
Posted by Jennings County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday, July 24, 2019
The page’s followers loved the post.
“I’m dying rn (right now)!” one woman wrote. “These hashtags tho.”
Another commenter posted an image of a milk carton with the dentures' photo on the side of it, referencing the practice that began in the 1980s of putting photos of missing children on milk cartons.
One woman joked that she was putting her teeth in a safe when she went to bed. “I have an extra set of dentures I can rent out for special occasions,” she wrote. “You know, going to see your probation officer, prom, whatever.”
She used the hashtag “#GummyBearGoneWild.”
As of Friday morning, the department's post had been shared more than 5,700 times and more than 2,000 people commented on the crime.
Cox Media Group
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