How Long Until He's Caught?

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Authorities are seeking a burglar who allegedly took the time to make coffee, cook and eat meals, take showers, pick out a change of clothes, watch television and check his e-mail while inside three rural Washington County homes this month.

"He took clothes and meals," Sheriff Brian Rahn said. "Whatever he was finding in those refrigerators, he was filling up on it."

Sheriff's Department Capt. Dale Schmidt said investigators believe they knows who the burglar is, but he said authorities have not been able to find him since he took a car from the last of the homes that was entered. Schmitz said the man is believed to have left the area.

The burglar left behind other valuables, including jewelry, firearms and electronic equipment, Rahn said.

The burglaries occurred between Feb. 2 and Sunday at homes in the town of Kewaskum, the town of Polk and the town of Wayne, Schmidt said, with the car taken from the home in the town of Wayne in the last of the incidents.

Cash was also stolen in burglaries at two taverns in the town of Wayne and town of Addison during that period, the captain said, but it was not known whether those are related to the home burglaries.

Lori Menzel of the town of Kewaskum said the burglar left his Yahoo account open after checking his personal e-mail on the computer at her home.

"He never logged out," she said, adding: "He made himself at home here. He spent some time in our bedroom trying on my husband's clothes. I could tell he went through some of my clothes."