When a woman living in Cherokee had to be out of town for an extended time, she depended on two people to check on her house and take care of her pets. Now those two people are facing felony charges.

Court records show on Feb. 28, Ian Benson contacted the Alfalfa County district attorney’s office about a burglary that had occurred in late October 2023. That office contacted Cherokee Police Officer Reith Claflin who said no report was done. Claflin contacted Melody Benson, Ian’s mother. She said she had been out of town starting in June 2023 through July 2023 to prepare funeral details for her brother. Benson said neighbors Dorothy Gerber and Vernon Lindell had been taking care of her house while she was gone.

After returning from the funeral, Benson was informed by Gerber and Lindell that her house had been broken into and multiple items had been stolen including various pieces of jewelry, a 43-inch smart TV, multiple Harley Davidson t-shirts, a pewter Harley Davidson lighter, signed Kansas CDs, an elephant head walking stick, a purple and white bag of tools, a two-drawer wheat nightstand and multiple other items.

Benson had previously found a few of her items in the residence of Gerber and Lindell including a purple thermal cup, jewelry boxes and a laundry basket. When she confronted the pair, they told her they picked them up off the road blowing down the street from the wind. Benson said her purple lawn chair that was missing was sitting in her house after she talked to Gerber and Lindell. She said Gerber and Lindell informed her that their house had been broken into as well, and they had a TV and DVD player stolen. No report was made to the Cherokee Police Department.

With information provided from the two individuals, Officer Claflin had the sheriff’s office run a Leads online search for anything pawned starting in July 2023 to the current date from Gerber and Lindell. An Enid pawn shop was found to have multiple transactions from Gerber in the last eight months. From a picture sent to Claflin by the pawn shop, Benson identified one particular solitaire ring sold on Oct. 27, 2023, when the two individuals were responsible for her house while she was in the hospital. Benson also stated she had a gold boat pendent which was listed on the ticket by the pawn shop. All other jewelry had been sold by the pawn shop. The missing 43-inch TV was also located at the pawn shop and still in their stock record. The items remaining at the pawn shop, the solitaire ring and the TV, were put on hold for the Cherokee Police Department.

Benson had two cats that Gerber and Lindell were supposed to take care of. One of the cats was buried shortly after her return. Gerber and Lindell informed her when someone broke into the house, the cat had its neck broken and was lying on the floor in the living room. Benson asked them who they thought did it, and they said it was children who broke into her house.

Once Benson identified the ring still at the pawn shop, a search warrant was obtained for the residence of Gerber and Lindell. It was executed on Feb. 29 by several officers. Initially no one was home, but the garage door facing east was left unlocked. Officers made entry through the garage and cleared the residence. Once the house was secure, Chief McNeill went to locate the two individuals. They were located heading back to the residence. Once they arrived on scene officer informed them what was happening, and the search warrant was executed. When being interviewed, Lindell recovered items for officers that had been reported missing including miscellaneous Harley Davidson shirts and a Harley Davidson bear. Lindell said he was planning on returning them to the owner.

When asked about items, Gerber denied any knowledge of any being in the house. A Kansas signed photograph and other signed photographs were located in Christmas decorations in the basement. One signed Kansas photo was made to Benson with her name written on the front cover.

Dorothy Lynn Gerber, 61, and Vernon Ralph Lindell, 59, both of Cherokee, have each been charged with two felony counts: (1) grand larceny in a house or vessel and (2) knowingly receiving or concealing stolen property. The first charge is punishable for up to eight years in prison. The second is punishable by imprisonment not to exceed five years or a fine not to exceed $500, or both fine and imprisonment.