MYSTERY SOLVED: Police find couple's missing vacation home
MADISONVILLE, Texas (KTRK) -- A Houston couple's missing vacation home has been found in Rockdale, Texas.
Jo and Lonnie Harrison first reported their cabin stolen on Friday. The structure is a pre-fab building which they said they purchased in a land deal in 2017.
Eyewitness News shared their story on Sunday.
We visited their property off Mustang Loop this afternoon. Only pipes, blocks, and wooden steps remained where the building once stood.
"I want to know what happened. Why it happened and I want my house back," Jo Harrison said. "Who steals a house? It's just really hard to even grasp that the house is actually gone. That someone hauled it away."
"I need to report a stolen house!": Houston couple wants vacation home back
ABC13 spoke with Sergeant Larry Shiver with the Madison County Sheriff's Department. He confirmed the structure was repossessed by a company out of Temple, Texas.
Shiver said he is now working to speak with the man who sold the Harrisons the property. Shiver said it appears the building wasn't paid off by the previous owner.
"I've never had a house reported stolen in my career yet. This was a little bit unusual but when I went out and looked at the scene, I could tell it was a professional job," Sergeant Shiver said. "It was part of the deal but the problem was it wasn't specified in the writing. Yes, we feel sorry for them. That's why we're looking to find the house. They had belongings in the house. Plus, they put time and effort into the house."
Shiver said the previous owner could face criminal charges.
"Possibly," Sergeant Shiver said. "He did not represent the property as it should have been represented."
Jo Harrison said she's disappointed with the development. They bought the property as a vacation home. They said it was the perfect weekend escape from the big city.
"Reality is that the house is gone. We work very hard," she said. "It's just astonishing that you work hard. You do the best you can with what you have, and that someone just takes it away."
Shiver said records don't show the building listed on the property. He suggested anyone looking to purchase land needs to visit their local tax assessor. He also said to run the transaction through a title company.
