Posted Thursday, June 25, 2009 --- 1:40 p.m.

From the Columbia County Sheriff's Department:

On June 25, 2009 the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office received information that two male subjects were possibly in the rural Rio area recently along Genrich and Hagen Roads in Wyocena Township requesting to enter homes under false pretenses. On one occasion, approximately 1 week ago, two male subjects received permission to enter a home claiming to be working with an insurance company. The residence owner did not ask for identification and allowed the two subjects to look around the residence for approximately one half hour. The owner of the house stated he did not notice anything missing from his house. It’s possible that the suspects were looking for prescription drugs or valuables to take. Both residences in Wyocena Township have very long driveways that are secluded from other houses in the area.

These two reports are somewhat similar in nature to the recent incident that occurred in the City of Portage in which two male subjects claimed to be with the Portage Police Department and requested to enter the house under the false story that they were there to look for somebody who might be in the house.

The suspects are described as follows:

Suspect #1 Male white 30 years old 5’10’’ tall and 200 lbs with a shaved head and no glasses or facial hair wearing a t-shirt and blue jeans with a Midwest accent.

Suspect #2 Male white 30 years old 5’06’ tall and 180 lbs with a button down shirt blue jeans no glasses or facial hair and wearing a gold colored watch and Midwest accent.
The vehicle they drove was described as a large dark blue 4 door with unknown Wisconsin license plates.

If anyone comes in contact with an individual or individuals that resemble this description, they are asked to call the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office Crime Stoppers at (800) 293-TIPS or (608) 742-4166. As a reminder, private citizens do not have to allow anyone inside of their residence unless a court order allows it. If you are concerned about someone stopping at your residence asking to enter, first ask for identification. This is especially important if the person claims to be with law enforcement. Do not hesitate to call if you feel something is suspicious like this incident.

Sheriff Dennis Richards
Columbia County Sheriff’s Office