In September of last year, a safe belonging to Dale and Cathy Hufstedler, from Linden, was broken into while they were out of state. The thieves took $6000.00 in cash, some jewelry, important documents and an ancient family heirloom. The heirloom was a pocket watch that was made in 1649 that held a value of approximately $100,000.
“It had been passed down from generations to Dale’s wife, Cathy” the Sheriff said. The Sheriff said that it was investigated and that the Sheriff’s Office even posted a reward for information leading to an arrest of the person(s) responsible.
“This has been one case that has really bothered me during my tenure as Sheriff. I consider the Hufstedler’s friends and great people. It bothered me that someone had taken from them such an important part of their family’s history and we couldn’t solve it.”
The Sheriff said while he and his wife were in training to become certified on the Computer Voice Stress Analysis software, they agreed to put it to work on the Hufstedler’s case as soon as they returned back home.
The Sheriff assigned his wife Rosanna Weems, who he had recently made an Internal Affairs investigator for the Sheriffs Office and Jail, the Hufstedler case. Rosanna said that she immediately began reading the case file and talking to the Hufstedler’s and developed a suspect. That suspect is currently incarcerated in the Perry County Jail on other charges.
Rosanna interviewed Lauren Bledsoe and asked her to submit to the CVSA exam in regards to the theft. Bledsoe failed the exam and then gave a full confession of the incident including Bledsoe’s accomplice, Rebecca Lee.
Bledsoe carried Rosanna Weems and other law enforcement to her residence on Little Spring Creek Road where the watch was once buried in her back yard. Bledsoe told authorities she remembered that she had dug it up and placed it inside her closet, hiding it in a box with a false bottom.
The next day Inv. Rosanna Weems interviewed Rebecca Lee. Lee submitted to a CVSA exam and failed. Lee then confessed to her involvement in the crime. Over the next few days Rosanna was also able track down a few pieces of the missing jewelry.
Both Bledsoe and Lee remain incarcerated.
Inv. Rosanna Weems had this to say “Being able to hand deliver a family heirloom of this value back to the Hufstedler’s was a feeling that is indescribable. Seeing the look of joy on their face was just an amazing sight.”
“Having this case solved has been a milestone in my career. I am very proud of my wife and my team for the work they all put into this case. I can only imagine the sickness and anguish the Hufstedler’s have felt since having their heirloom taken. To Rosanna and I, this software and training was worth every penny spent to solve this case and return the watch to its rightful owners” Sheriff Weems said.
