Alleged Jewel Thief Leaves Trail—in Snow

Police in Illinois used a cutting-edge technique to apprehend a suspected jewel thief: They followed his footprints in the snow. When a Des Plaines woman came home Tuesday night to find a man rifling through her jewelry, the culprit fled out her back door, reports the Chicago Tribune. Police arrived shortly thereafter and simply followed the trail the man had left in the nearly foot-deep snow.

The footprints led to the door of a house on the same block. Inside, police found the 23-year-old suspect, a relative of the occupant. The entire incident, from call to cuffs, lasted 30 minutes. “Not many people were running through backyards in 10 inches of snow,” explained a deputy police chief. (More burglary stories.)