The Swatting                       

Sunday, was cold, The road icy and totally empty. I was helping Jim put in a couple of new circuits and a fan in his  attic for his old house renovation. About 3 hours in,  the first car all day comes down the road and an old man named Bob wants to see the inside of Jim's house and  talk to Jim, who was in the attic with David. The old guy walks in and Jim comming down from the attic with David tells him not now ,there are wires all over and walks with him to the door, David following out to the porch where I was getting some fresh air. Everyone friendly.

The next afternoon 2 Reynolds County Deputies, one of them called Jonathan loyd, come to my house, talk to my wife, and say they are looking for 2 lost kids. The wife asks "who are they and what are they wearing. We will look for them?" Then the deputies say it was one kid. "Who and What was he wearing?" says the wife . Then the deputies say it is one kid about 10 or 11 they do not know who or what clothes the kid has on.

Then the deputies say they have a report of a missing kid "last seen with Gregg and Jim". Who ever made the call know our names.

She asks the deputy Jonthan Loyd who to contact if she finds the missing kid. She asked him "Salem or Bunker?". The deputy said call Bunker. There is no Sheriffs office in Bunker. Salem is a different County.

By now my wife no longer believes a word they are saying.  They leave.

A few hours late deputy Jonathan Loyd shows up again with an alleged social worker who now says there was an anonymous tip to a child endangerment hot line and they want to do a "wellness check". This social worker has no card and no ID when asked. Same with the deputy, no ID produced or a card when asked for it.

 When the deputy is told he is violating my reasonable expectation of privacy he replies that "curtalidge" allows him to go wherever a mail carrier or delivery man does go. For the record mail and packages DO NOT come up to our house. They are left down below the hill, across the creek, through the gates.

The next afternoon 2 cars arrive at my house with an FBI agent all dressed for war. Now they have a search warrant. The deputy Jonathan Loyd hands me the copy of the warrant and tells me to leave the house. I ask to get glasses to read the warrant. I am told "no".

I and a friend named David exited the house, him carrying a cell phone recording the whole interaction and stand outside with the FBI agent who goes all Sargent Schultz on us and knows nothing. He was just there for "backup". Soon he is laughing and smiling at all of the jokes David made about stupid Hillbillies and "Swatting". About total idiots with nothing else to do, no cause, no witnesses, no nothing. We make jokes about David being a neglected child in his 40s. The FBI guy was less happy when asked if the FBI worked this hard on Jeffery Epstein. Then we learn the cops are raiding Jim across the road too. Finally the idiots come out, found nothing. I ask if they want to go search all of the buildings on the property around me so they will be thorough and not bother me anymore. Silence.

I was then allowed to move so I move in to the sun where I can see better and read the warrant (held at arms length, my arms are getting too short) and discover the warrant is not for my property.  It is for a different address across the creek, across the road. I tell the idiots you have searched the wrong house this is not xxxx. The deputy Jonathan Loyd says "I gps-ed it, that is here".

 For the record, there is a number on the house across the street and a number on the building on my side of the road you pass to cross the creek to come here. The numbers were assigned by the government.

Several minutes later an unmarked same type car comes up the driveway much slower. The FBI agent and another guy get out. Both were FBI, both happy to show ID. No gun visible now and no war gear on. Just plain clothes. He asks politely to talk to me and wants to know what was going on why were they called out. They did not like driving 2 and a half hours for nothing.

They ask to speak to David and I seperatly  about what went on at Jim's house Sunday with out us hearing each other to see if our stories match. My conversation was recorded of the whole house surveylance system. David kept his phone recording all the time. They matched pretty close.  I was there to put in new circuits I said, and David to install a light and ceiling fan. The FBI was very interested to know if David came out of the attic (YES), was David in the living room which is well lit (YES) and did David go out on the porch in full daylight (Yes) When Bob was there. From both of us. I guess they wanted to know if a 46 year old man with a beard could have been mistaken for a child of 10 or 11 due to bad lighting?

They were still sensitive about how much follow up was done on Jeffery Epstein and missing kids.

So far there have been no other police contacts.

The name and spelling for Jonathan had to be taken from the search warrant as he refused to provide a contact card or show an ID when asked.