When she saw the car stop in front of the customer’s house, she sat at the mailbox and watched. The three young men in the vehicle were not typical visitors for the older couple who reside there.
She saw one of them get out of the backseat, approach the house, and knock on the front door.
“It just felt like something was not right, so I thought I’m going to remember this,” Lorie said. “I wrote down the tag number and a description of the car.”
A few days later, the wife of the couple waited for Lorie at the mailbox and asked her, “The other day, did you see anything suspicious?”
After Lorie had driven away that day, the men had broken into the house. Alone at the time, the sleeping wife awoke to the sound of something falling onto their washing machine.
Assuming that it was her husband, she went to investigate, and that's when she encountered an intruder. He was carrying a large bag filled with their guns, her wallet, and other items from the house. She startled him, and he ran away.
Lorie also learned that there had been a string of burglaries in the area and that this was the fourth or fifth time that the residents in this house had been victims.
Lorie told the customer about what she had seen and reported a description of the vehicle and a partial tag number to the police.
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| Rural Carrier Lorie Wilkes Because of Lorie's attentiveness and intuition, the suspects were apprehended. When customers learned about this, started calling and coming by the Crossville Post Office to thank her. They've also been stopping Lorie on her route. "All of the neighbors have said thanks and how much they appreciate me," Lorie said. "One fellow came outside and said I just want to shake your hand.” Postmarks thanks Lorie for caring so much about her job and community and for telling us her story, and also thanks proud Crossville Postmaster Peggy Galloway for alerting us about Lorie's good deed and for sending us the picture. |
