Ex-con charged: Corey Lofton, 28, of Florida, has been charged with grand theft for allegedly swiping 15-20 gold bars from his next-door neighbors in September
With Hurricane Irma barreling towards Florida in September, an elderly couple asked their next-door neighbor to help them move a cat litter box containing gold bars worth $26,000, which the pair had bought for their retirement.
Cynthia Copley, 70, and her 69-year-husband, Robert, had Corey Lofton move their treasure consisting of 15-20 gold bars from their home in Drummond Avenue in Panama City to a boat on their property.
The storm spared Panama City, and the Copley breathed a sigh of relief, that is until they discovered their gold was missing about a week later.
They called their 28-year-old neighbor, but Lofton told them he had moved to Jacksonville.
So, they called the Bay County Sheriff’s Office on September 15, sparking a three-month-investigation that resulted in Lofton’s arrest this week on charges of grand theft and probation violation.
The suspect, who has an extensive criminal history in Florida, was picked up in Jacksonville on DUI and violation of probation charges and was returned to Bay County.
Cynthia and Robert Copley lived on Drummond Avenue in Panama City, Florida, when Hurricane Irma came barreling towards the state, prompting them to evacuate
Mrs Copley told the Panama City News-Herald that they opted to hide their retirement fund in the form of gold bars inside the cat litter box because they were frantic in the face of the approaching hurricane, and they did not think anyone would take advantage of their situation.
In an incident report filed in September, the sheriff’s deputy wrote that he contacted Lofton’s mother who lives next door to the Copleys.
She told investigators she didn’t know where her son was, but that ‘he had spontaneously left town over the weekend to work in Jacksonville.’
Lofton had been arrested on a drug charge in May and violated his probation by moving to Jacksonville.
The Copleys invested in gold to help prepare for retirement. She said the sheriff’s investigators haven’t told her whether they recovered any of the booty.
The woman described the experience of losing the couple’s nest egg as ‘crushing.’
‘We kind of figured it was long gone. We were hopeful, but since that happened in September, it’s pretty much a lost cause,’ she said. ‘I just want to see him in jail.’
Lofton is being held in Bay County Jail without bond. He is due back in court on February 6.
The suspect’s criminal record, which stretches back to at least 2009, includes charges of DUI, marijuana and methamphetamine possession, fugitive from justice and domestic battery.