Instead, he swung into action and did some detective work of his own, searching the Internet for some trace of items stolen in the break-in.

That paid off quickly. Within a short time he found his electric guitar and a camera for sale on eBay, an Internet auction site where people can buy and sell goods. Precise descriptions of the items convinced him that they were his.

Early Wednesday morning he shared that information with detectives who, with his help, traced the eBay account to a pawnshop in Jefferson County. By that afternoon, Frankin County officers, working with Jefferson County deputies, had located all the stolen goods at several pawnshops and identified a suspect.

"He did an outstanding job," Franklin County Sheriff Gary Toelke remarked about the homeowner's actions which helped solve not one, but two burglaries.

The suspect, Joshua S. Rahlfs, 31, of Perryville, was arrested later Wednesday at a home in Reynolds County. On Thursday he confessed to breaking into the home in the Lake Labadie development, according to the sheriff's office.

Rahlfs is charged with one count of second-degree burglary. His bond was set at $15,000 in the Franklin County case.

Authorities said during questioning Rahlfs also admitted to breaking into a home in Jefferson County after leaving the Labadie home. He's expected to be charged in Jefferson County with that crime.

Toelke said this should be a lesson for other burglary victims. If they can help provide some clues or leads, it will move their case up on the investigative priority list.

"Our guys try to follow up like this, but they have so many cases they're working on they can't always check all the pawnshops around the area," Toelke commented.

"It's not enough to just hand your situation over to the police," commented the homeowner, who asked not to be identified. "Yes, they do as much as they can and do a great job, but yours is not the only crime out there. They need your help as much as you need theirs.
"A crime like this is so devastating because you immediately feel helpless," the homeowner remarked. "You must realize that there are things you can do to work towards finding answers. After all, you are probably dealing with some desperate drug adict who will leave behind a trail of mistakes, not some professional thief."

In this case, it's likely the burglary would never have been solved without the homeowner's information, he said.
Rahlfs currently is on probation in a 2005 Franklin County case.

He pleaded guilty in January 2009 to a felony forgery charge and was sentenced to three years in the Missouri Department of Corrections. The judge suspended execution of that sentence and placed Rahlfs on five years supervised probation, according to court records.