JOPLIN, Mo. -- Here's an update to a story from last week: a woman in Waynesville who was trying to be a good Samaritan to someone who claimed to have lost his house and everything else in Joplin's tornado. After seeing the man's story on a dating website, Pattie Murphy invited him to stay with her for a couple of days.
When she returned home from work, she says he had stolen everything of value that he could fit into his truck -- from electronic equipment to baseball cards to a closet full of clothes.
It turns out the Chevy Avalanche that he was driving had been stolen too from Baxter Springs, Kan. When Joplin police responded to a reported sighting of the stolen vehicle, in the Sam's parking lot in Joplin, they arrested Larry Butler, 55.
According to the probable cause statement used as the basis of charges, Butler got out of the truck and said to the officer, "You've got me." He had another woman in the vehicle. He said he had met her two weeks ago -- also on the internet.
