Doggy door crawler breaking into homes

AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) - When Stephanie returned to her North Austin home in Central Texas on Aug. 1, something was wrong.

"I found some of the house on the lower level disheveled," said Stephanie, who asked that her full name not be disclosed. "TV, missing. IPad, missing. Other electronics, missing."

She filed a police report, replaced some of the stolen items, bought a surveillance system and added some locks. But two weeks later, the burglar struck again.

"The only thing we didn't secure was the doggy door," she said.

And on Aug. 15, the burglar paid another visit.

"This time, we caught him on video -- this time, through the doggy door," Stephanie said.

And there he was: a thin young man who appeared to have crawled through the doggie door. The camera caught him methodically picking choice valuables again.

He was in and out of her house in three minutes, too fast for cops or neighbors to react.

"It looked in the video like he was trying to figure out how to take a TV off the wall -- a replacement TV -- at which time we think he opened the garage door," Stephanie said. "That's when the alarm sounded and scared him."

Stephanie filed a second report. Austin police dusted for fingerprints and is now analyzing the video. Stephanie said she can replace the stolen property but not the stolen memories.

"That's the kind of stuff you can't replace -- the sentimental stuff," said Stephanie. "Makes you so angry because it's gone. No money can replace that stuff."

For now, Stephanie has been putting out some fliers offering a reward, and she said she hopes someone will recognize this slithery home invader and turn him in.