House was broken into this past Tuesday

Posted this on the GSB, but I know the OT baws here can probably add a little insight, too. It's a long read, but please humor me:

So, my wife came home Tuesday and found one of our sidelight windows beside our front door broken and the door sitting slightly opened. She got back in the van with the kids, locked up, and called the cops. They cleared the house, but the thieves got away with three TV's, blue ray players, my dad's Colt pistol that he left me (was in a small safe and they just took it with everything in it), and got my wife's valuable jewelry, most notably her engagement ring which she didn't wear to work that day as she is a nurse and some days it's better left at home, or so we thought (thankfully, we had a separate rider on our insurance just for it). Of course, all is replaceable and no one is hurt. Can't replace the sentimental stuff as easily, but they're just "things".

Question is, what should we do to prevent a repeat? Signed up for a security system yesterday along with a video cam system, so we've got that out of the way now and that seems to be the most effective thing we can do. I've also replaced my gun. There's one cypress tree between us and a neighbor that blocks their view of our driveway closest to the house and I will be removing it soon. There's actually a security light that the tree has grown up around which is no longer on, but I'll have it turned on as soon as the tree is down.

Funny thing is, we're the last house at the end of a quiet, five house cup-de-sac neighborhood, not in a problem area or anything.....never would have figured we'd have to worry about this kind of stuff. But these guys were pros. They only took specific items, nothing that wasn't a TV, Blu-Ray player, Roku or jewelry, and were likely in and out in 10 minutes or so. They timed it to avoid running into anyone (which I appreciate).


Now, let me add to this since I've had time to think about it. I don't know this for sure yet, but I'm pretty sure no one else was hit in the days leading up to this or after. I will confirm with the investigator in the morning. This leads me to believe that it was someone who has been to the house before. That narrows it down a bit. We bought the house in May of 2016. Since then we've had:

1. Xfinity cable guy who did the install and setup of our system in May, 2016

2. An A/C guy that is part of a family-owned, two man service business that has a good rep. He did our first and second tune ups in June of 2016 year and then January, 2017.

3. A roofing sales manager to give a roof estimate and an estimate for a couple of small repairs in September, 2016.

4. The roof repair guy from the same company in September, 2016, and again in approximately April or May of 2017. Brought a helper who is part of his normal crew on the second trip, but he seemed okay.

5. Another roofing company sales guy in June, 2017. Also had a helper, but again, nothing "off" about either of them.

6. Chimney repair guys for two separate companies. Both came out for estimates, both are reputable, only one did work. That guy brought a helper, but he was older and seemed okay. Visits were in July and August, 2017.

7. Another A/C tech from a new, reputable company I was trying out. Came to do our tune up in July, 2017. Nice guy, very helpful. Found out from the next guy we had out that he was let go from the company for doing service on the side with company tools and generally competing with his employer. Could be significant, could not be. No job could cause desperation

8. Yet another A/C tech from previous company came out and ultimately diagnosed a bad defrost board. Had to order part. Took a while to figure out the problem, but his diagnosis did turn out to be correct. Found out he'd only been with the company for 6 weeks. Here's the catch and why this guy is my focus right now: When he called me to let me know he was on the way, his number came across with a female's name whose last name didn't match his (mother or girlfriend, presumably...and thanks, Verizon, for your caller ID service). I find it odd for a grown man to have his cell phone in his mother or girlfriend's name and think it could indicate credit issues which could indicate other things. Also, there was a piece of attic insulation tracked into one of my kids' rooms where he never should have been. And he had a chance to see everything in the house, including where the jewelry box was as that's where the main floor thermostat is. Additionally, he straight-up lied about changing an air filter I asked him to change on the second floor. Caught that while he was still there, but figured I'd report it to the company afterward. Interestingly, the intruder made no effort to open a third door on the second floor that goes to the walk-in attic/unfinished bonus and that leads me to believe that whomever came in knew there was nothing worth taking in the attic and left it alone. The second floor air handler is in the attic........

9. Yet another A/C guy came out to replace the previously diagnosed defrost board and he seemed like a good dude. Been with the company for 4 years. Young guy, but knew what he was doing and even asked me at one point what I thought of the guy who was there before. He kinda seemed to think he was quirky since he was a trade school-educated guy and hadn't learned the trade by apprenticing. Said he thought he was alright. Just felt like he did things backward.

And that's the list. Everyone on the list could have identified that we didn't have a security system and that our dog was in the backyard, meaning he probably wouldn't be inside. All of them could have identified the line-of-sight issue for our neighbors due to the cypress tree and the fact that no one could see a car parked in front of our garage (which had to be where they entered from and loaded up...they dropped an item there on their way out). BUT, only the A/C guys had ever been INSIDE the house and, notably, INSIDE the attic. My money right now....is on number 8. My question is, how do I pursue this with the investigator? And, can he check with the carrier of the cell phone to see if that phone had "pinged" any towers around us on Tuesday (or would that require an incoming or outgoing phone call)?

What says the OT?

Thanks for reading and for any help you can offer.